I get a kick out of you
by esyaht
Summary: Clexa AU: Clarke has just moved in her new apartment. New town, new people, new experiences - it's all fun and excitement until she meets the grumpy neighbor from across the hall. Rated M for sexy times in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey, everyone! This is the first chapter of my first Clexa fic. I hope you enjoy it and stick around for the next chapters - I'm planning at least 5.**

* * *

Clarke got out of the cab stunned by all the buildings around her. There was nothing imposing about them. They weren't fifty-story skyscrapers with shining mirrored windows - no. If anything, they were the exact opposite. The tallest buildings on the street had no more than five floors and were mostly made of dirty, stained bricks. The opaque walls held large rusty-iron-framed-windows that were sometimes adorned with flower pots. Well, dead flower pots. It was beautiful, really. Looking up at her own building – the place she would now call her home – she saw an old cat looking out the window, glaring at her. She was more of a dog person, never really liked cats, but she was so caught up in the beauty of the place she actually opened up a smile.

"Lady! Hey, lady!", Clarke was suddenly withdrawn from her reverie. Eyeing the grouchy cab driver behind her – an honest, friendly smile still gracing her lips – she reached for her wallet. Her belongings were now ungraciously spread by the sidewalk. She tried not to falter at the sight and paid the driver with an added tip that she supposed was enough for his troubles. He slapped the trunk door shut and mumbled something she couldn't make out over the loud metallic thud. Maybe the tip wasn't enough? He slipped back in the car and drove off leaving Clarke alone to deal with all her baggage.

It wasn't a lot, actually. Just two large pieces of luggage with her clothes, her A3 sized portfolio folder, a backpack and two cardboard boxes full of knickknacks. It wasn't a lot – but it was heavy. And she would need more than one trip up and down the flight of stairs at the entrance of the old building. She's started by taking the backpack that was already on her back and the portfolio folder, which she was tightly holding as her most precious possession – after all, it had brought her here, it was her very own golden ticket. She went back for the large suitcases, one at a time, and finally the boxes. She wouldn't label herself as sedentary but, if she was being honest, she felt ashamed of all the sweat gracing her forehead right now.

Now that her things were safely inside the entrance hall of the building she got her phone from her back pocket and started to dial at the same time she pushed the button for the elevator. With the phone to her ear, she looked back at her stuff, proud of her brand new independence.

"Hey, honey! You there already? How are you?", the voice in her ears were full of excitement but still she could detect a mama-bearness kind of ring to it.

"Hi, mom! I'm great. I just got here. To the building, I mean. I just brought my stuff inside the entrance hall and now I'm waiting for the elevator", with her back to said elevator, she turned her head slightly to check on it, "It's taking forever, though."

"Did you press the button, Clarke?"

"Wow, mom! Such a great idea! Why didn't I think about it before?", she did bite a laugh but her pitch gave away the very amused nature of those words.

"Well, I forget how smart you are, smarty-pants! Either way, just try pushing on it again. Maybe it's one of those really old buttons that only work if you press it with an exact amount of pressure and from an exact angle or-"

"Mom! It's just a button. It's not rocket science. But fine. I'll press it again.", and so she did.

"But really press it this time, honey. Give it your all.", it was just a button, but if Clarke didn't know better, she'd thought her mom was giving her the same motivational speech she did every time she started a new chapter of her life since she was child.

She rolled her eyes lovingly even though her mom couldn't see it. "I did, mom."

"So…?", it was a lot of anticipation just for an elevator, but Clarke wasn't surprised. Her mom was extra worried, having her only child far away for the first time. It was her way of taking care of her grown up baby.

"Nothing yet", she pressed her free ear to the elevator door and tried to hear something, gears, cables, anything. But she got nothing. "I'm starting to think this thing is broken."

"Did you put a good pressure when yo-"

"Yeees, moooom!", she drawled almost annoyed now, pushing the button repeatedly, the tip of her index finger half red, half white.

"Oh, this is not going to work.", she turned around to the entrance of the building to find a young looking man standing there. His messy long hair and his jovial smile gave him an amiable face, easing her concerned stance into a more cordial one.

"Hey, mom, I have to hang up but I'll call you back in a while, kay?" the words were blurted out hastily and she didn't wait for a response hanging up to a very curious looking man smiling way too much at her.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Finn", he got two steps closer and stopped at arm's length reaching out her hand to her. She eyed him with a bit of suspicion but still took his hand, "I'm on the 5th floor."

"Hi. I'm… Clarke", she shook his hand with some hesitance but the boy did look trustworthy, "I'm just mov-"

"Moving, yeah, I can tell!", he finished her sentence tilting his head toward the baggage, that pleased look still decorating his face. It was almost annoying, but Clarke was starting to fall back into the joyful feeling she had when she first got out of the taxi.

"Sooo, about the elevator…", she tried retracting her hand and pointing behind her.

"Oh, yeah. That. Well, it's broken.", he punctuated the sentence with a scrunch of his nose that didn't really go well with the invincible grin on his face, but Clarke found it endearing in some way.

"You have got to be kidding me!" It did _not_ make the news any more pleasing to bear though.

"Being the fortunate resident of the fifth floor, I have to say that I wish I was kidding. But I'm not. Nope. It really is broken.", he was far too elated to be giving her such bad news, but she was starting to realize it was just his way.

"Crap. No one told me it was broken. I wonder why.", sarcastic tone to her voice, she realized she was more frustrated for being lied to than anything. Of course she didn't like the prospect of having to carry all her stuff all the way up to the third floor, but the fact that she hadn't been informed of it while deciding where she would live showed a tremendous lack of character, both from the landlord as well as her future roommate, and that was one of the few things she had a hard time dealing with – trust. Why is it so hard for people to be honest?

"I'm going to guess it's probably because everybody is used to it. The elevator has been broken forever so no one really thinks about it. The stairs just became natural."

"Or people are just too comfortable being dishonest.", sounding bitter than she wanted she threw a half smile his way to make it up for it.

"I can help you, if you want.", he pointed to her stuff and then to the stairs.

"Oh, you don't have to. Really. I think I can handle it."

"No, come on. It's okay. How high are you?"

"Excuse me?", she was taken aback for a while until he rephrased it.

"I mean, the floor. Which floor are you in?", he almost choke trying not to laugh at her misunderstanding.

"It's okay, I can do it, don't wor-"

"Clarke. Come on.", it was weird hearing a stranger say her name like that. "Let me be a good neighbor. What floor?", but she better get used to it, he _is_ her new neighbor after all.

"Third. I'm on the third floor."

"Damn, I was hoping you would say first."

"Hey, it's fine, I can-"

"I'm just kidding, dude! Come on! Let's start with the big, heavy bags while we full of energy."

"Fine. Ok.", she said grabbing one end of the bag while he got the other. "Thank you, Finn."

"No problem, neighbor!", he winked at her in a friendly fashion.

When they got the last box upstairs Clarke reached for her new keys inside her backpack and unlocked the door of her new home for the first time. It was quite a big moment for her. Independence. Was it scary? Hell yeah, it was. But right now it was all just exciting. She stood at the doorway for a while, looking inside like she had just discovered a brand new universe – and in a way, she had.

"So you're moving in with Raven, then!", the boy behind her stated with excitement in his always-so-happy voice.

"Yes. Raven. Yes. Do you know her?", she was worried about his answer. She had exchanged a few e-mails with the girl prior to her decision of moving to this specific apartment amongst all the other possibilities, and the apparent good natured spirit of the girl had been a major dealmaker. But you never know how much of it is fake. She did have lied to her about the elevator, so… who knows.

"Oh yeah! She moved here about six months after I did. She's the best! You're gonna love her.", Clarke was relieved to hear such nice things about her new roommate, but then she didn't think Finn could say anything bad about anyone - the guy was a bottomless pit of cheerfulness. "I can't say the same thing for your _other_ neighbor, though.", he whispered while tilting his head to the door across the hall. Ok, maybe he _is_ able to talk badly about people.

"What's wrong with him? Her?"

"Her. You know, I keep asking myself this same question. Let me know if you find out.", he eyed the door with some kind of discomfort, a total change of aspect from the chirpy one Clarke was already getting used to. He shrugged and returned to his jolly self to say goodbye. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Clarke. I'm gonna leave you to your stuff now, I suppose you're tired and have lots to do. So… If you need help with anything I'll be upstairs. You can just scream from your balcony."

"Or I can just knock on apartment…"

"51."

"A good idea!"

"What?"

"Nevermind. I'll explain some other time.", she shook her head, "51 then. Okay. But hey, thank you so much! Really! I owe you one!"

"I see more than one bag here, Clarke. So you owe me more than one.", he kept an impressive serious tone despite the obviousness of the joke.

"Whatever, Finn. Thanks, Finn!", she screamed after he darted up the stairs to his own apartment.

She caught a final glimpse of the door across the hall, her gaze curious and concerned. She thought about knocking and casually introducing herself, but instead she turned back to face that universe she couldn't wait to step in – and so she did.

* * *

The apartment was empty. Raven had informed her that she wouldn't be there upon her arrival due to some work related affair but "You should totally feel home! Just don't sit naked on the couch, please!" – she had said in the latest e-mail. Looking straight to said couch, she felt her lips stretch into a content smile. It was a regular red leather couch facing a large but old television, the CRT kind. A rectangular coffee table set between them. At the back wall a large bookshelf made out of old looking ladders placed side by side with wood planks sitting on the steps across the ladders. On the right, the large glass window was an entrance to the balcony. It was all very quaint, she loved it. She was enraptured by it. She had seen it in pictures before, of course, but being there was different. A fresh wave of excitement washed over her body as she passed by the kitchen and headed towards her room. A bright ultramarine blue paper was fixed to her bedroom door with stylish "Welcome, Clarke!" handwriting in white. It was a nice touch to get her already pumping self even more charged – she was already starting to love this roommate.

After taking a deep breath and growing her grin to a full toothy smile she opened the door and went in the room. It had a closet to her left, a window facing an alley, a reasonable sized twin bed with a bedside table, a couple of shelves on the wall and a desk by the door. It was plain. It was hers. It was perfect.

Clarke spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and getting her stuff organized in her new room. When she got to the trinkets box, she picked up a portrait that brought up an instant beam to her face. It was a family portrait from her childhood days. Two glowing parents were crouched beside a 6 year old Clarke, a toothless smile plastered across her face, her messy blonde hair all over the place and sticky with sweat. The cherry on the top was a cute baby monkey on her lap. She was suddenly ripped out of her contemplation when a metallic wah-sound came from her back pocket. She didn't have to pick up to know it was her mother so she started apologizing as soon as she slid across the screen to answer.

"Hey, mom! Sorry I forgot to call back! I'm sorry."

"You better be! Not even one day away and you already forgot about me.", Clarke could clearly hear the pout on her mother's voice. It would be heartbreaking if it wasn't adorable.

"Oh, come on, Mrs. Griffin! There's no need for all this drama. I was just about to call you, actually.", she hadn't fully thought about it, but it wasn't a lie. With the picture still in her hands, she realized it was just a matter of time, her mother just beat her to it.

"What took you so long? I was worried, you hung up in such a hurry!"

"Well, turned out my button-pressing skills are just perfect, thank you very much.", she chuckled into the speaker and heard her mother doing the same. "The elevator, otherwise, is not. The damn thing is broken."

"Well, that was my second guess."

"Yea, you just had to doubt my finger dexterity first.", she bit her tongue realizing how dirty this sounded in her mind and hoped her mother hadn't catch that. If she had said that anywhere near her friends she was sure they would break into a fit of laughter and she would be the target of finger-dexterity jokes the whole week. "Anyway,", she decided changing the subject was the best option, "When I hung up one of my neighbors had just walked in. He told me the elevator has been broken forever. Can you believe it?"

"I can believe it as much as I believe in your finger dexterity, honey.", she said trying to hold down her laugh but failing miserably at it. Clarke's cheeks were instantly pink and she was glad her mom couldn't see it. She chose to ignore it and just kept talking.

" _So_. Finn helped me carry my stuff upstairs and I spent the last hours unpacking."

"Who's Finn?"

"My neighbor, mom."

"Oh, right! Well, that was nice of him! Make sure you make something nice to thank him."

"I already said I owe him."

"That's not enough, Clarke. Put that finger dexterity to use and bake the guy some cookies.", Abby managed to suppress a laugh now, but the amusement was still evident in her voice. Clarke should've known better, occasionally inviting her mom to hang out with her friends would now haunt her forever.

"Mom. Please.", she tried to sound bothered, but that proved to be very hard with her mom's giggles at the other end of the line.

"Ok. Fine. I'll stop."

"Thanks."

"Bake him some cookies, though. Do you need a recipe? I can e-mail you mine."

"I know how to bake cookies, mom.", she looked at the photograph in her hands and her voice became tender "I'm not six anymore."

"Ugh, I know. My baby's all grown up and now I'm abandoned.", and there it was again, the long distance pout. "Promise you'll call me every day."

"I already did, mom."

"Do it again."

"Fine. I promise to call every day."

"And make sure you're eating properly."

"Yes, ma'am. Anything else?"

"I miss you already, honey."

"I just left, mom! You need a boyfriend, you know?"

"And you need to be nicer."

"I actually need to finish unpacking, mom."

"Fine. I'll leave you to it, you ungrateful daughter, you." Clarke loved bickering with her mother, it made their relationship so much fun. And she felt it brought them together since her father had passed away. He was always the one making jokes and picking at them. The first time they did this after he died, they both laughed so much they started crying. It was a really beautiful moment and they haven't stopped since then.

"Hey, mom"

"Yes, daughter?"

"I love you.", there was a genuine smile reaching and glossing Clarke's eyes. It was a big moment for her and also for her mom. When Clarke got the news that she had been accepted to an internship in a different city – and a different state – she struggled with leaving her mom by herself. She thought about refusing it but her mom wouldn't let her. So here she was now. Part thrilled, part bitter. But mostly thrilled.

"I love you too, kid.", Clarke's throat tightened a bit. That's how her dad used to call her. She decided to hang up before giving any chance to the tears.

"Bye, mom.", she was suddenly way too emotional. And she was tired. Exhausted.

She finished setting her stuff up and headed for a much deserved shower before passing out on her bed. It had been a long day, and the next one would be even longer.

* * *

The next day, Clarke woke up feeling sore from carrying her stuff upstairs. "I really need to start working out. This is ridiculous.", she groaned with the pain of simply getting out of bed, but the groan quickly faded as her stomach got all her attention demanding food. With all the hassle from moving she had forgotten to eat properly. Opening the bedroom door, a heavenly scent wafted from the kitchen enveloping her nostrils and she basically hovered in its direction just like a starving cartoon.

"There you are, roomie!", as soon as Clarke entered the kitchen Raven's head shot up, a radiant grin embellishing her already beautiful face. The way she was greeted made her feel like they were longtime friends already. It made her feel truly welcomed. She returned her most genuine smile and proceeded to properly greet her roommate.

"Raven! It's great to finally meet you!", the brunette girl stepped out from behind the kitchen counter and Clarke put her hand out for a handshake. Raven took it and pulled the blonde in for a hug.

"Oh, come on! Don't be shy. We're going to be living together, you're probably seeing me naked.", she joked into the hug. Clarke was a bit awkward at first, but she's always been a hug person, so she just gave into it and hugged it out sharing a laugh with her roommate.

"Hey, if I'm gonna see you naked you could at least buy me dinner first!", she laughed enjoying the easiness of the situation.

"I see you're a sucker for traditions, huh!"

"Must admit I am."

"Well, I can't promise dinner but I'm making some pancakes for breakfast, especially for you! You know, as a welcome treat. Don't get used to it.", she winked.

"I did hear you're the best! And I'm starting to realize that's true.", Clarke winked back.

"Oh, so I gather you met Finn already.", Raven was quick in her thought process, Clarke was delighted.

"Indeed. He helped get my stuff upstairs. Such a gentleman.", Clarke said with a mocking British accent.

"Oh, right! Because the elevator-"

"Is broken. Yeah."

"Damn, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you about that. I swear it wasn't on purpose.", she scrunched her face in an apologetic manner. "The damn thing's been broken for so long now I don't even think about it anymore."

"That's what I heard.", Clarke just couldn't get mad at her.

"I mean, I have to confess, I really did want you to choose me. I would have been able to lie if it meant I'd be the chosen one.", she confessed sporting a mischievous grin.

"You _are_ the chosen one."

"Does that mean I have to find all the horcruxes?", Raven looked so proud of her potterhead remark she couldn't hold her nerdy grin down.

"AND destroy them!", they both laughed in understanding until Clarke's stomach made a noise so loud she actually felt ashamed.

Raven looked straight to the blonde's stomach and adopted a very serious expression, "I think I just found the first one."

With the same seriousness, Clarke replied "And I know exactly how to destroy it."

At that commentary, both girls dramatically averted their eyes towards the pancakes, and then back at each other breaking into another fit of giggles.

"Gosh, you really are the best.", Clarke admitted with great joy in her chest.

"I am. And you really are hungry. Let's eat!"

The girls sat at the counter for a whole hour, eating and getting to know each other. They had shared very basic information with all the e-mail exchange. What they did for a living, what kind of music they liked, favorite entertainment options. Just a quick test to learn if they were minimally compatible. And they were. They were both kind of nerdy – Raven for the sciences, Clarke for the Arts, they both enjoyed modern music but couldn't give up the classics, they enjoyed their quiet times but knew how to properly throw a party. They even watched the same TV shows, except for some minor differences – Clarke loved all kinds of construction/renovation shows, Raven hadn't ever stopped to watch Discovery Home & Health. Raven had the complete "How it's made" DVD collection, Clarke had fallen asleep during an episode of "Extreme Engineering". But they both loved "Cosmos" and had "Interstellar" as their top favorite movie.

After finishing breakfast and doing the dishes, Clarke changed out of her pajamas, got ready to leave for some shopping, and pulled a piece of paper from her bedside's drawer. It was a quick sketch she had done the night before from the front of the building where she now lived. It was signed and dated, and at the top left corner it read " _Our_ _place looks awesome! Thanks for having me!"_

She went back to the living room where Raven sat, watching TV, and handed her the sketch. "That's for you."

Surprised, Raven looked at the drawing in awe and looked back to Clarke. "Did you do this?"

"Yup.", Clarke was usually modest about her drawings, but she was proud of this one, it wasn't just another building, it was her new home, it had sentiment.

"And that's our building.", it sounded more like a question, like she wasn't believing it.

"Yes, it is."

"Wow, I'd never realized how beautiful it is. You're really talented, Clarke.", Raven couldn't tear her eyes away from the simple but beautiful lines and shades. When she did, she remembered it was a gift for her. "Oh my god, thank you! I love it!"

"I'm glad you like it! I just really wanted to thank you for being such an awesome roommate already. I feel really welcomed here. So. Thanks!"

Raven got up to her feet and hugged her new roommate. It was really amazing, for both of them, how well they got together. They could tell they would be good friends.

"So," Clarke stepped out of the hug, "I have to leave now, but I shouldn't be late." she warned.

"Damn right you shouldn't be!" Raven blurted out. Seeing the confused look on the blonde's face she continued, "We're having a party today."

"What?!" Clarke really was surprised.

"We're having a welcoming party for you, I'm going to introduce you to the people." she answered proudly.

"The people?"

"Yea."

"What people?"

"You know."

"…" Clarke was giving her a hard time staring with such questioning eyes.

"Everyone."

"…" she was just having some fun with the brunette though.

"So…?"

"Are there going to be cute guys at this party?"

Raven opened up a smile and cheered "Super cute guys!"

"And cute girls?" Clarke challenged.

"Even cuter girls! Super duper cute girls!" she squealed.

"Did you just say "super duper", Raven?" she teased.

"I did. Super duper. Super duper. Super duper!" Clarke just burst "Sooooo? Is that a yes? Are you coming to the party?"

"Well, I live here now, don't I? I guess I _have_ to participate, don't I?" the blonde was holding an impressive laugh inside her but did her best to sound nonchalant.

"Yes, you do. It's specifically stated at the Roommate Agreement!" she playfully accuses.

Not being able to stop herself, the blonde quickly goes out of character and adds with her everyday voice "Oooh, we should totally make one of that!"

Raven agrees instantly "Oh, totally!" and falls back into play. "So you better be here, missy!"

"I shall be, ma'am!" Clarke saluted and went out the door dramatically breaking into a fit of laughter as soon as the door closes behind her. Her abs hurting for holding it for so long combined with the "workout" from the previous day. She stands in front of the elevator for half a second and spits out a "Oh, dammit!" while turning towards the stairs. She starts racing down the first set of steps, turns left for the second set, and when she turns left once more for the third set of stairs she almost bumps into a dashing dark, long hair racing up the stairs. She starts to apologize but the girl just keeps on running up until she disappears out of Clarke's sight. Rude. The occurrence doesn't affect her high spirits though and she keeps on walking, only more careful now.

* * *

She was only supposed to look around in office supplies stores while getting to know the city's downtown area. And check out the building she would be starting to work in just a couple of days. They mentioned she could be working from home some days if she wanted to, but if she chose to do this she would have to buy her own drafting table. After some research she found an adjustable one that was a board instead of a table that she could just place on top of her desk, saving both space and money.

She kept on walking around town until she got to the exotic looking building in front of her. It was modern but with the classic hint of yore. It wasn't really high. It was like a rectangular box but with softly rounded edges. It had different sized circular windows that decreased in radius from the right to the left, each circle merging with the circles next to it, making it look like a really symmetrical cloud thinning out. The glass was a transparent cyan hue. It was really beautiful. Clarke had seen pictures of the building on the internet, of course, but seeing it personally, right in front of her eyes, was something else entirely. She felt the blood rushing fast through her veins, never had she been as excited about something as she is about this internship. She's going to learn from one of her favorite architects. And her office is inside one of his very own masterpieces. Why would she even want to work from home? She took a moment to take in the beauty of the design and then looked around the block. Across from the building there was a circular and simple square with a small fountain in its center and some benches around it resting on top of the shades and under the protection of the trees. That's going to be the best spot for lunchtime, she thought. The fountain was tinted orange from sundown and that's when Clarke realized how late it had gotten.

She needed to head back home and get ready for the party. How should she dress? She did ask Raven about the cuteness of the guests but it was just a joke, she wasn't really interested in meeting anyone at this point - was she? She hadn't dated anyone in a while. Except for a one night stand with her ex, Niylah. But that didn't count as date. It was just sex. She concluded she wouldn't make any decisions right now and would only worry with the amount of alcohol she would allow down her throat. Thinking of that, she stopped by a liquor store on the way home and bought a bottle of Tequila to celebrate. And a six-pack. The closer she got to the building, the more excited she got. She was really thrilled about the party now, and couldn't wait to meet some of Raven's friends. They couldn't possibly be bad people if she was friends with them.

* * *

And they really weren't. Clarke had already had 4 bottles from different kinds of beer and had downed 3 shots of Tequila with Raven. They were now preparing for the fourth one.

"Hey, have I said you look really hot tonight?", Clarke declared with a bit o slur to her words.

"You're _that_ drunk already, roomie?" Raven teased.

"Shut up, Raven. I'm making a nice compliment to you. It's a compliment. I'm not complimenting you. Wait. No. I am complimenting you. I'm not _flirrrting_ you. With you," yeah, maybe she was a bit drunk already. Maybe she should stop drinking. Soon. "Whatever, you hot."

Raven laughed hysterically and returned the compliment to her blonde roommate, "You got the looks too, princess" she winked and added "and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Dude over there won't stop looking at you." Clarke instantly turned around to peak and Raven wasted no time stating, "Wow. So subtle."

"Shoosh.", she looked behind him once more and then turned back to her friend, "He's actually kind of cute. What's his name?"

"That's Blake."

"Blake?" Clarke contemplated for a while and realization dawned on her, "Oh, I think I might have talked to his sister. Octavia, I guess."

"That's the one."

"Well, she much cuter than him.", she voiced sloppily.

"Tell that to her boyfriend." she pointed with a nod of the hand to a tall bald guy across the room. His arms were twice the size of Raven's and he had massive black tattoos.

"Dayum! He's hot stuff!" she squealed. She really was drunk.

"I know, right? Let's drink to that!"

"Damn right!" they clinked they shots, licked the salt off their hands and swallowed the liquid in one gulp. The fluid burning down their throats and the lemon twisting both their faces. "Cheers!"

"Hey, why don't we down another shot and you go over there, have a word with Blake?"

"Nah. He's not really my type." She dismissed.

"What's your type?"

"Fierce exterior, soft interior."

"Blake can be soft."

"Oh, I can see that. I'm just not sure I see fierce there."

"Go over there and find out! Now join me in this shot and just go."

"Fine!"

"Great. Now. Arriba!"

"Abajo!"

"Al centro"

"Y adentro!" they both yelled in unison before chugging the drink.

"Now go!" Raven gave a friendly push to Clarke's shoulder and the blonde started walking towards the nice looking guy. She was halfway there when a buzz sounded loudly in her ears. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked around. No one else seemed to care about the buzz. People just kept on drinking and talking to each other. The buzz echoed again and she realized it was coming from above her head. It was the doorbell.

"Hey, blondie!" Clarke turns around following Raven's voice "You're the newbie here! You answer the door!"

"You're a bully, you know that?", Clarke shouted all the way across the room.

"It's an honor!", Raven retorted with a not-so-gracious bow. Clarke dismisses it with the wave of a hand and turns to answer the door.

When she opens it, she finds a grumpy looking girl staring back at her with distaste in her eyes. She's dressed in a lose black t-shirt and black sweatpants. Her feet are bare. She's but 2 inches taller than Clarke. Her long dark hair cascading down her shoulders and her face is studded with a pair of killing green eyes. They're gorgeous. Her strong jaws are clenching and her chin is slightly elevated, making her gaze appear even more threatening. If looks could kill, Clarke would be cold dead right now, she thinks. Analyzing the girl and admiring the hard lines of that exquisite face had sent her somewhere else entirely and she is snapped out of her trance when the girl repeats for the third time, raising her voice, "Excuse me!" Clarke doesn't really know what's going on so she stays silent and just steps aside, inviting her in but the girl doesn't move.

"Is it possible for you people to turn down the volume?", the words had a harsh sound nailed to it.

Clarke's not sure what she's talking about so she takes a step forward to try and hear the girl better, "What is it?"

With a roll of her eyes, the brunette repeats herself. "I'm trying to sleep over here and you people are too loud." Clarke isn't sure she's following, she's getting really distracted with the view in front of her. "Would it be possible for you to turn the goddamn volume down?"

"It's Saturday!" is all Clarke can say at this moment, with the alcohol and the unexpected presence in front of her, blurring any reason she has left in her.

"It's two in the morning!", the somber tone of her voice reveals her patience is quickly wearing thin. Completely ignoring that fact, Clarke proceeds to voice some of her thoughts with that surprise kind of guest.

"Woooow," she drunkenly starts, "I am really drunk right now". The girl at the door breathes out an impatient huff and keeps silent when Clarke continues to slur her nonsenses.

"And you!", she points to the grumpy girl, "You are beautiful!", Clarke has a confused look on her face but she smiles nonetheless. The girl in front of her, however, is taken aback by the revelation and doesn't really know how to react. After a while, she finally mumbles something along the lines of "Just be quiet." and turns around towards her apartment. That's when Clarke realizes the door across the hall is opened.

"Hey!", she calls at her newly discovered neighbor and the girl turns back around startled, waiting for a continuation, "Go out with me!", Clarke finally delivers. What the hell was she saying? She didn't know. The dark haired girl looks utterly confused, a fast and outraged "No." jumping out of her lips. She darts back to her apartment, her eyes so wide it feels like her eyeballs are almost jumping out of her face. Clarke promptly screams at the other girl's back "Your loss!".

The brunette quickly shuts the door, but not before giving a last peak to her drunk, nonsensical neighbor – the blonde is still standing there, beaming a drunken smile her way.

"You looked!" Clarke screams to the now closed door across from her.

At the other side of the hall, a stunned Lexa leans on the door. The burning skin on her forehead touching the cold wood. Her eyes close and she whispers to herself, "Shit!"

* * *

 **AN: That's it for the first chapter, people! I planned on elaborating more on it, but I was too anxious to publish. So let me know what you think of it before I publish the next chapter :D**

 **Thanks for reading! And if you liked it, please recommend it to other Clexa shippers, with the promise that there will be much more interaction between these two in the next chapters ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Before anything I'd just like to thank everyone who followed/favorited and commented. It really encourages me to get going :)**

* * *

Lexa is sitting on the floor in the middle of her living room. The lights are out and an incense slowly burns on the shelf releasing an intoxicating scent that permeates the air around her. She has big headphones on pressing gently against her ears, but tight enough that it doesn't let any outside noise interfere with the soothing notes and hums flowing out of them. Sitting in the lotus position, she takes in a deep breath and allows her breath to slow down from there. The position applies pressure to her lower spine, making it easier to give in to relaxation. Slowly she feels her muscles' tension to lessen. Her breathing is becoming shallow and her mind is drifting into random thoughts that are more like streams of colors and lights derived from the soundwaves coming into her eardrums.

She started practicing mediation during her teenage years after realizing her anger outbursts were becoming worse. She had been told to look for therapy by many of her counselors during high school but she never took any of them seriously. The meditation came as a suggestion from her sister, Anya, when she was 15, after having an episode that would change her life forever.

* * *

 _Lexa was like any other young girl going through high school then, but she suffered a lot of pressure to be a grade A student. Her sister had graduated as a valedictorian student and all the eyes were on her, expecting her to follow her sister's steps. She was extremely hardworking, but didn't really care about the achievements that were expected of her. At that time of her life there was only one thing she deeply cared about other than her sister, and that thing was her girlfriend - Costia._

 _Costia was her first love, and like most teenagers loving for the first time, she believed they would be together for the rest of their lives. She realizes now how dramatic teenagers can be when in love, but that doesn't make the girl's presence in her life any less significant now. Lexa and Costia had been dating for 10 months, always sneaking around school to share chaste stolen kisses. They would sit side by side on the bus back home and hold hands when no one was watching. Costia's parents were very religious and, for that reason, she hadn't come out to them yet, hence compelling them to love each other in secret. Everything went downhill, though, the day Costia's mother found a letter from Lexa in the girl's backpack. The letter had a heartfelt love declaration and was followed by a poem Lexa had written herself. When questioned about the letter by her mother, Costia had no way of denying its content. She tried convincing her mom it was all a joke and that they were just friends, but her mom didn't buy it, so Costia's parents had her transferred to a different school in order to avoid their daughter's contact with Lexa. It didn't stop the girls from seeing each other, though, as Lexa would often skip school to go after Costia at the other girl's school. They made plans of going all the way through high school in hiding and then go someplace together when they graduated._

 _One day, Lexa got home to find Costia's parents sitting on the living room couch. Lexa's blood froze and burned at the same time with fear and anger. When she closed the door behind her, Costia's father stood up and furiously pointed his finger at her yelling about how she was completely forbidden to get anywhere near his daughter ever again, about how disgusting she was and how he wouldn't allow her to stain his daughter's soul with her filth. Each one of his words washed over her like gasoline being thrown at a bonfire. Her skin was burning with rage and she held it for as long as she could until she snapped. She went full on murderous at him, flying on his neck while clamoring her love for Costia and accusing him of stealing his daughter's happiness. The man was twice her size, but her rage was so violent she could've easily killed him hadn't she been stopped by her own father. When she was finally under control, Costia's parents had already been gone. After calming down a little, she redirected her fury towards her dad. "How could you let him talk to me like this?" she cried out "How could you just stand there and do nothing?"_

 _Her sister was the only one able to assuage her scorching nerves. Lexa spent that night crying on her sister's lap. "I'm not giving up, Anya" she would say between sobs and hiccups. Every time she thought about the gruesome words she had listened to that evening a new wave of rage washed over her only to be assuaged by her sister's serene words. She woke up the next day, her eyes puffy and red, with her sister sitting beside her on her bed. "How you feeling, pupil?" Anya kindly asked poking her side, but Lexa only returned a groan. "I have to go to work now, but I have something planned for us when I come back, okay?" Lexa just gave a small nod, not saying a word. Anya placed a kiss on her sister's forehead and walked out of the bedroom closing the door behind her. As soon as her sister left, Lexa shot up from the bed and changed her clothes. She peaked out the door to check if the house was empty and when she was sure it was all clear she left the house. She ran as fast as she could to Costia's school and waited for her arrival behind a tree. All the kids had already entered the building but Lexa was yet to see any glimpse of her girlfriend. Her mind started racing and so did she. She raced again, as fast as her skinny legs would let her, until she got to Costia's house. The scene she saw there completely broke her heart. Costia was being dragged into the car by her parents, fat tears falling from her eyes, her ragged voice pleading them not to take her, she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay. Lexa ran towards her and tried to pull her by the arm, but Costia's father acted faster and pulled the girl out of Lexa's reach and into the backseat of the car, savagely shutting the door and stepping between Lexa and the car. "You can't do this!" she begged. But he didn't say a word. Lexa's strength had been drained the night before and she couldn't find it in her to try and attack the man again. She knew it would be pointless. So she just darted to the window from where Costia was watching her with tears in her eyes. She knew it was useless but she tried opening the door regardless of that. When she failed, she placed her hand on the windowpane determined to get as close as possible to the girl she loved. Their hands hovered against each other, with the glass impeding their touch. Lexa didn't even realize she was crying until the words got caught in her throat, "I love you" she said in between sobs. When Costia was about to answer, her father stepped on the accelerator and furiously drove away, leaving Lexa behind with dust in her eyes. Lexa ran after the car for half a mile until collapsing on the ground, unable to see the car anymore._

 _When she finally got her strength restituted, she could only see red. The rage eating through her like a deranged bull in a sea of red flags. She ran back to Costia's house and looked at it with despair in her eyes. She didn't know what to do. She looked inside the house through the glass windows – it was completely empty. Her forehead was glued to the glass, each of her hands by the side of her head. She beat the window glass once, as if trying to wake someone up. But there was nobody in there. So she kept on beating it. Her sweaty hand leaving marks on the dusty glass. The blows getting harder with every push of her anger. Her whole body was shaking now and she hit it one last time. Her fist shattering the glass with a loud blast. A sharp fragment of the window lacerating her skin and reaching her flash – yet, she couldn't feel a thing. She looked down to her feet, dozens of shards spread on the ground around her, big drops of blood staining the glass beneath her. Even bigger drops. A leak. She looked at her arm - a deep lengthy cut starting on the outer side of her hand, right under her pinky, curving all the way down to the middle of her forearm. There was a lot of blood. Lexa was motionless, she was scared, she had never seen that much blood in her life. She started to feel dizzy and began to walk looking around. She held her forearm pressed against her stomach, trying to contain the blood with her t-shirt. It was really hot that day. Everything started to blur around her, the sounds started to muffle and when she last expected, she tripped. And when she tripped, everything went dark._

 _She woke up five hours later on a hospital bed, white bandages enveloping her arm and a worried looking Anya standing beside her. "You idiot", Anya said to her sister, yanking a tired smile from her. She reached for a glass of water by Lexa's bed and handed it to her. Lexa took a big gulp of the water and handed the glass back to her sister, "Thanks."_

 _They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Lexa's doctor stepped in to check on her. He said she would have to stay under observation for another hour and then they could go home, but not before talking to the hospital's social worker. Lexa scrunched her nose to that but didn't protest. She couldn't even if she wanted to. That night, back home, Anya stayed with her sister and taught her how to meditate so she could calm herself down even when she wasn't around._

* * *

It had been 10 years already and she never stopped practicing ever since. Life had become quite hectic in the past years, causing her almost daily practices to dwindle to a point where she felt lucky to meditate at least twice a week. And that's where she finds herself now – in the middle of her living room, allowing her body and mind some rest.

When she comes back from her daze, she slowly opens her eyes. The faint glow of the almost-dying candles are gentle in her retina. Her movements are measured, precise. Before unfolding her legs to stand up, she takes off her headphones and her eardrums are met with a cacophony of loud voices and music. She's way too peaceful at the moment to feel annoyed, so she just tries to block it out of her attention span. She blows out the remaining candles and heads to her bedroom. She goes through her modest nigh-time routine – herbal face astringent, teeth brushing and body lotion – and lies on the bed, ready to be taken into Morpheus' embracing arms.

But she can't.

She rolls around in bed for a whole hour, still trying not to lose the lasting peace gathered from her meditation, but it's nearly impossible when it's – she looks at the clock by her bedside – _two_ _in the morning_ and her boisterous neighbors can't seem to find any common sense within their probably drunk heads. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, collects herself and gets out of bed. It's all good, she knows Raven, she knows the girl is not that oblivious. She's just going to go there and ask – nicely – for her to turn the volume down. Shouldn't be a problem.

She opens the door to the hallway, the fuss becomes louder, she steps outside towards the other door and rings the doorbell. She waits for a few seconds but nobody answers. They were obviously so loud they couldn't even hear the doorbell. She rings the doorbell again and waits for another few seconds, she can already feel her face crumpling with annoyance when the door jerks open and a blonde stranger appears. _Damn it._ _That's not Raven_.

"Hi?" she tentatively says but the girl standing in front of her doesn't seem to listen. Her blue eyes are piercing straight into her own, but it looks like they're going right through her, because the girl still doesn't notice when she tries to talk again "Excuse me?"

Nothing. The girl is static before her eyes. And her eyes… her blue eyes are reaching into her like the centerpiece of a claw machine. She doesn't know what the blonde girl's trying to catch in there but it's making her extremely uncomfortable, so she raises her voice and tries once more, "Excuse me!"

The blonde finally seems to be back to reality but instead of saying something she steps aside, motioning for her to go in. Lexa is starting to feel annoyed so she just poses her request in the most polite manner she can, "Is it possible for you people to turn down the volume?"

"What is it?"

Lexa's displeasure starts to show when she rolls her eyes to the annoying lack of awareness of the girl, "I'm trying to sleep over here and you people are too loud."

She waits for any kind of response. Nothing. "Would it be possible for you to turn the goddamn volume down?"

"It's Saturday!"

"It's two in the morning!" she bites back without even trying to sound nice anymore.

"Woooow," says the clearly drunk blonde, "I am really drunk right now." _No shit, lady. I could never tell_ – Lexa thinks.

"And you!" a pointy finger drunkenly floats before her, "You are beautiful!"

What.

Wait.

What.

"Just try to be quiet, please!" is all Lexa can articulate. Her cheeks suddenly feel really hot and she turns around to hide her embarrassment. She starts going back to her apartment when the drunk voice behind her calls again, "Hey!"

She instinctively turns around waiting for a continuation albeit not knowing why she does it in the first place, "Go out with me!"

What. No. _What is happening?_

"No."

Lexa tries not to run back to her apartment and fights to keep her composure, it feels like all the strength necessary to keep it cool is pushing her insides and the pressure is being relieved through her eyes.

"Your loss!" she hears behind her. It's almost funny. It would be if she wasn't in such distress. But it's also bragging.

She gets to her apartment and hurries to close the door. Without really thinking, she throws a final glance to the blonde across the hall - she's smiling. She proceeds to shut the door and leans her forehead against it bracing herself.

"You looked!" she hears through the wood barrier. Her heart is racing, her skin is prickling. Her eyes start stinging, she shuts them. _What the hell just happened?_

"Shit!"

* * *

"I DID WHAT?!" Clarke is dumbfounded, her own outcry making her insides buzz with the alcohol imprints in her head, which is being held by her hands while she steadies herself with her elbows on the counter. Raven is standing on the other side pouring some coffee for the blonde.

"You said she was beautiful and then asked her out", the words leave an amused smile on Raven's lips, she just can't contain herself.

"Are you serious?" Clarke was now eyeing her with a mixture of despair and hope in her eyes – hoping it was nothing but a prank from her silly roommate.

"Dixie Chicks serious."

"Oh my god, Raven! Why didn't you stop me? Why did you let me do this?" Clarke's arms faltered and she let her head fall on top of them hiding her face on the counter top. Half of her words muffled by her arms.

"Because it was fun to watch!" she burst into laughter unable to hold herself down "Also, it was really exciting! I actually felt sorry I didn't have any popcorn at the time. But then I fixed that as you can see."

Clarke raised her head slightly up towards some scattered popcorn on the counter. She rolled her eyes, picked one up and threw it at her cracked up roommate. "I can't believe I did this."

"You so did."

"I can't believe you let me do th-", realization brought her to a halt. She looked at the scattered popcorn, then down to her own fidgeting hands, then behind her at the apartment door, then back to her hands and finally at her friend. Raven didn't seem to catch the moment, but Clarke was too curious not to ask. Embarrassed, yes. But even more curious. "So… What did she say?" the words fell from her lips in unimpressed mumbles.

Raven was laughing so much she missed the whispered question "What?"

Clarke rolled her eyes before repeating "What did she say?" her eyes never meeting Raven's.

"Oh, god." Raven had a shocked, yet still amused, expression. Her eyes as wide as her mouth that was now hanging open with mirth. "You're really interested!"

"Shut up! I'm not!" Clarke looked like it was the most preposterous concept she had ever heard.

"Are too!"

"Raven!"

"What?!"

"I don't even know her!" Clarke tried to remember how the exchange had gone the night before, but she could only see some flashes of the other girl's face. It was all blurry in her memory. In her mind, the whole scene had been trimmed down to what seemed like different versions of the same static second in repeat. The images were foggy but for one detail – her eyes. She remembered the other girl's eyes. They were green. And they were gorgeous. "I don't even know her name!" she snaps.

"Lexa." Raven clarifies more than willingly.

"Lexa?"

"That's her name."

"Lexa." Clarke's eyes are distant for a while. Her brain connecting the sounds her mouth is producing to the green eyes flashing in her mind, "Lexa" she whispers once again, more to herself than anything, momentarily unaware that Raven is still there.

The unawareness is broken by Raven's sing-songy voice, "You have a crush on he-er".

"I do not!" the blonde barks back "I told you I don't even know her. I barely remember her face. How the hell would I have a crush on her?"

"Dude, you were murmuring her name there!" Raven teases once more. Clarke looks outraged.

"I was just…" _what_ was she doing? "You know…" she didn't know.

"Praying your love for our neighbor?" Raven raised her eyebrows in an accusatory witty way.

" _Love_?! Come on, Raven! Have you lost your mind?"

"No." she answered seriously "But _you_ have!" she snorted again. Clarke just threw her a pointed nasty look and kept silent, realizing her roommate was not going to leave her alone so soon.

"Ok. Ok." Raven conceded taking a deep breath to steady herself from all the laughing. "She said no."

"What?" Clarke was puzzled.

"You asked what she said" she explained "you know, when you asked her out."

"Oh," only now Clarke remembered her question from a few moments ago. The question that had started all this banter between the two. "Oh." she suddenly realized what her friend was telling her.

She didn't have time to mask the disappointment in her voice. She didn't know _why_ she was disappointed. She didn't even know the girl – she said so herself. Maybe it was just an ego kind of thing. No one liked to be turned down, right? Either way, she decided to change the subject before Raven could make any snarky remark about it. "How do you even remember all of that?" she inquired "You drank as much as I did last night - if not more!"

Raven was going to comment on the frustration in her roommate's voice, but the trick seemed to work on her.

"I'm just not the forgetful kind of drunk", she flaunted.

"What kind of drunk are you?" Clarke side-eyed her suspiciously.

"That topic is not on the table today. But Lexa…" she tried to get away with the query.

"No! No way!" Clarke was suddenly alive with the exhilarating power of curiosity, she knew there was something her roommate was not telling her "You're not turning this against me again! Come on! Spill the beans!"

"There are no beans to be spilled, Clarke." she was suddenly very serious, but Clarke knew it was just a façade "But let me tell you something…"

Clarke's ears perk up, trusting she's about to hear some juicy revelation from her roommate.

"You can't use this " _I don't know her_ " rubbish as an excuse", she mocked Clarke's words tugging an eye-roll from the blonde "She lives across the hall, you can go get to know her anytime."

Clarke shot up from the stool and turned her back to her annoying roommate. "That's it," she blurts out walking away from the kitchen "I give up."

"Come on, Clarke!" Raven shouted towards the blonde. "You know you want to!" her smug look was too big to contain.

"Oh," Clarke pointed midway to her room "Nice reference, by the way." but Raven didn't seem to follow, so she complemented "Dixie Chicks serious" she grinned.

"I know, right!?" she looked truly proud of herself for that "And I'm so glad you got it!" and also proud of her new _friend_ , "You really are the chosen one!".

"Chosen one out!" the blonde uttered from the distance.

She closed the door behind her but could still hear Raven's snickering. That girl was a pain in the ass. If she hadn't been trained her whole life to endure this kind of mockery she would actually feel irritated, but right now she just felt intrigued. Since the moment Raven told her about the late night scandal with their neighbor, she started forcing her mind to remember what had happened. The more she thought about it, the clearer it got. But then again, she didn't know if those were actual memories or if they were some kind of creation from her brain. She had to admit – to herself, at least – that she was curious about their odd encounter. She had been wondering about her neighbor since Finn mentioned her.

* * *

Before all of that scene, she had no idea who the neighbor was - she only knew it was a "she". But she didn't know if it was a young girl or an old lady. She didn't know if she was tall. If she liked arts or sports or music. She still didn't know most of that. But she knew she had killer green eyes - that was for sure.

Lying on her bed, Clarke starts imagining what it would be like if she decided to knock on Lexa's door to, I don't know, apologize, maybe? She had just moved in, after all, she couldn't begin her neighbor life in such an awkward situation. Maybe it was a good idea, just going there and apologizing. What harm could it do? But then she remembered the content of their interaction. She had been brutally turned down – according to what she had been told. Sure, she had no intention of coming on to a stranger like that, so it's not like it was a real turndown. It was just the alcohol in her blood speaking. And if she went there, she could explain exactly that to the girl and maybe she wouldn't be in such dire straits. That seemed like a reasonable idea.

She decided to shower to let the thought simmer, hoping the hot water would soothe her worries, which she thought were already exaggerated. She attributed that to Raven's insistence of making a big deal out of it when, clearly, it was just a trivial misunderstanding caused by excessive alcohol ingestion. Nothing more. So she finally decided she would go there and talk things out with her Lexa. _Neighbor_. She would talk things out with her neighbor.

She got out of the shower and walked to her bedroom with the towel wrapped around her torso. She opened the closet door and stood there looking at all of her clothes. She picked a washed skinny jeans and a black and white, long sleeved, baseball t-shirt – "Too obvious".

Then, she changed into a white tank top – "Even more obvious".

Then, she tried on a dress just for the fun of it – "Too girly".

After that, she put on a pair of black skinny pants and a long sleeved black shirt that held her in all the right places – "Too dark".

She looked over to her bed, all the clothes scattered on top of it, "What the hell, Clarke?"

She finally put the washed jeans back on, the white tank top and completed the look with a dark grey button shirt – entirely unbuttoned – and the sleeves rolled up to her elbows – "Not at all obvious" she quipped to herself. She put on her mulberry scented body oil, traced her lower lid with an eyeliner and fixed her hair using nothing but her fingers and a couple drops of Argan oil, giving a natural movement to her cascading blond waves. It's not like she did this every day. But she did it most days. Also, it was Sunday, which meant the next would be her first day on her new job, and she was nervous about it, so treating herself was like a way of relaxing for the day to come. And the stars were probably aligned in a way that made her feel like spending some extra minutes taking care of her appearance and whatnots. It wasn't because of Lexa. No. That would be silly.

Finally ready, she went back to the living room hoping Raven was already back in her bedroom so she wouldn't have to say where she was going. She was afraid that if her roommate was there, she would get discouraged to pursue her goal of elucidating the ~Lexa incident~ – that's how she was calling it in her head. Her hopes went down the drain when, entering the living room, she received a wolf-whistle from her roommate "What's the occasion, kitten?"

"Nothing," Clarke wasn't really in the mood of explaining herself, she knew if she did Raven would never stop mocking her and she would end up giving up on her plan – that wasn't even a plan, actually.

"Just watching some TV…", she said casually, sitting on the couch, trying to maintain her confidence and stay on the tracks.

"So you want me to believe you pampered yourself to watch TV?" Raven inquired incredulously.

"I'm not pampered. But yes." the blonde dismissed nonchalantly. She didn't want to admit but her determination was starting to fade. "Where's the remote?"

"You have eyeliner on," Raven reached the remote and handed it to Clarke "You even smell good!" she insinuated giving Clarke a slight sniff.

"Hey, don't be creepy!" Clarke waved her off with a laugh.

"So don't lie to me!" Raven said sitting next to the blonde and poking her side.

"Well, I might go out in a while just to look around. You know, scout a bit." she improvised while pressing the Power button on the remote. Raven hummed but didn't say anything else. And if she was being honest, she might just do that after all.

She didn't think she still had it in her to go over to her neighbor, but that changed when she turned the TV screen on to the movie channel that was now playing none other than 'The Girl Next Door'. It _had_ to be sign. And signs could _not_ be ignored, Clarke believed. They just couldn't. So she quickly switched the channel hoping Raven hadn't noticed.

"Actually" she excused herself "I think I'm just gonna go now." She didn't wait for any response from her roommate.

Clarke shot up in one determined movement. Her eyes already on the door. Then her hand on the handle. She closed the door behind her and looked ahead. The hall stretched before her seemed wider than usual. Like a whole journey would unfold under her feet on the way to her neighbor's apartment. She took the first step forward and after three regular strides she was there. Her hand already shaped into a fist, her knuckles ready to make her presence known. This was it. Her fist hovered for a few seconds in front of the door but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She should've thought this through more carefully. She should've rehearsed, goddammit. She had been part of the drama club for a full semester, for heaven's sake! She knew how to memorize lines! But thank goodness this wasn't a play or she would be gawking in the middle of a blank with a whole audience to judge her incompetence.

She was about to give up and run back to her apartment when a sudden blow of air carrying an exotic scent hit her right in the face, and a green eyed beauty appeared dazzled in front of her. It was impossible to tell which one of them was more paralyzed. Lexa thought about reclosing the door but even in her disconcerting shock she knew how rude that would be. Clarke was now regretting not giving up sooner but managed to escape her stiffness before the moment got even more awkward.

"Hi!", she sounded way too excited.

"I'm Clarke", she toned down a notch reaching out her hand for the girl to shake. She miscalculated the distance between them, though, not realizing how close they were, and ended up accidentally poking right above the other girl's groin.

"Oh, god! I'm sorry!", she instantly retracted both her hands and glued them to her own stomach "I didn't mean to touch you" she continued "Well, I actually did" she laughed nervously "but not like… this… like… there" – WHAT IS GOING ON? – "Not that I'd be against it?" – Oh, god. Stop talking. – "Jokes. I mean. I'm just saying, I was just saying" – WHAT EVEN – "I was just trying to shake your hand?" Was this even a sentence?

This was a complete disaster. Clarke was 100% sure it couldn't get any worse than that so she just decided to stop talking altogether. The girl before her was motionless, she didn't even had a chance to speak thanks to Clarke's word vomiting. The blonde thought it was a lost cause until she heard Lexa's voice encouraging her, kind of "Can I help you?"

She couldn't tell if the girl was being polite, or if she was offended or anything. Her expression was stoic. She took a deep breath and tried again, more collected this time.

"I owe you an apology" she started "Well, more than one now, but" she picked her words with care, moderately.

"My name is Clarke, I just moved in with Raven" she explained nodding her head back to her apartment door "And I felt like I should make amends for my… behavior last night," Lexa's cheeks warmed a bit with the mention of the episode "you see, I was drunk-"

"I know." Lexa cuts her. Her cheeks still burning. One of her hands is still holding tight to the doorknob while the other is idly playing with the keys. Noticing the blonde girl is a bit disconcerted, she explains "You said so. Last night." she diverges her eyes to the keys in her hands "Amongst other things."

It's Clarke's turn to feel her cheeks burn even more so than before. She tries to respond to Lexa but doesn't really know what to say. Especially because the other girl still looks annoyed. Her suspicions are confirmed when Lexa finally speaks again.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Clarke comes back to her senses and takes two steps back so the girl can lock her apartment. She's not really sure why she's still standing there instead of, literally anywhere else, but she just can't help staring at her. Lexa walks away without so much as a goodbye leaving Clarke a little bummed out - maybe a lot. All the while, Lexa tries her hardest not to look back at Clarke – not this time.

Being quite disoriented, Clarke feels like returning to her apartment and drowning herself in guilt for screwing things up even more. But she can't, for the life of her, face Raven at this moment. Especially because she's pretty sure the girl just watched the whole scene through the peephole. So she waits a few seconds before going down the stairs, not wanting to risk any kind of encounter with the brunette. She's not really sure where she's going, she just goes.

* * *

"Focus. Just focus on your feet", Lexa told herself as she descended the stairs, forcibly looking down in an attempt to avoid looking back to the blonde. When she finally reached the sidewalk, the cool morning breeze was a soothing relief on her skin as her cheeks were still flaming with the embarrassment of yet another awkward encounter with her new neighbor.

"Clarke" she whispered to herself almost in slow motion, feeling her tongue curve inside her mouth. _So that's her name._ Lexa doesn't know why she's so worked up about the whole scene, it wasn't like she was the nonsensical one and she sure wasn't feeling sorry for that poor excuse of a neighbor. It was not fair, she thought, when she had just adjusted to Raven's shenanigans, to have another new neighbor apparently crazier than the one before. Why did the girl had to go after her? It was so much easier to pretend nothing had ever happened.

When she reached the corner she finally looked back, not being able to fight against it anymore. It wasn't like she was expecting the girl to be behind her or anything. It really wasn't. But being denied something always got to her nerves and made her want to do said thing even more – even when the restriction came from herself like right now. Reverse psychology sucked. It was like when Anya had told her that getting involved with Martial Arts was not a good idea for someone with such an explosive temperament like hers; surely enough, a week later she was registered in a Martial Arts school. She knew now that it had been Anya's plan all along, she had confessed her schemes a few years later when Lexa returned to their hometown for their dad's funeral.

Lexa never had a good relationship with him, she used to blame him for everything when she was little, especially after the episode with Costia's parents, so she left home as soon as she could. When she finished high school, she stayed around for just another year, working as much as she could and saving enough money to get her somewhere else. She knew now that despite their differences, he was trying to do his best to raise his two daughters by himself and it shouldn't have been easy. Lexa also admitted that she didn't make things any easier either, never giving the old man a chance to apologize. She had mourned this more than anything when he passed – not being able to make amends, all because she was too hard headed. It was the kind of thing that turned into a life lesson. And it was coming back at her at this exact moment.

"Clarke", she whispered again rolling her eyes. Sure, the girl was nowhere near of being as important as her deceased father, but she was trying to apologize, which was a very noble thing to do and not at all an easy one. She knew that. So maybe – she thought – maybe she could give the girl another chance.

Maybe.

* * *

It's almost sundown when Clarke decides to go back to the apartment. She regrets her day of shopping when she enters the building carrying five heavy bags and looks at the first of many flight of stairs. She hadn't stopped to think about it for even a second while shopping all the food items, books and art supplies she was now carrying. She's already tired of walking around the whole day so she practically drags herself up the stairs.

When she gets to the last step she's almost out of breath and she scolds herself again for being so sedentary. That's when she hears heavy and quick footsteps coming from downstairs and she knows, she just knows it's Lexa. She really, _really_ doesn't want to deal with the girl anymore so she hurries to the door and starts to dig for her keys in her purse all the while fighting with the heavy bags – how she wished she had an extra pair of hands right now!

She was getting desperate by the second, the footsteps are getting closer and she's almost having a heart attack. She finally finds her keys but it feels like there's butter on her fingertips as she can't, for the life of her, fit the damn key in the keyhole. Ironically, she thinks that was this a different situation, having slippery substances on her fingers would actually facilitate the act of sliding something in a hole. "Oh my god, Clarke. Get your shit together, that's not the time for this kind of thought. What the fuck!"

She finally manages to unlock the door the exact second Lexa reaches their floor. She knows that rude neighbor of hers is just behind her, she can feel her burning gaze on her back, she's doing her best to avoid eye contact but her body betrays her and when she gets in the apartment she turns around to cast one quick glance at the brunette before closing the door. It was very brief, so she could be mistaken, but she swears Lexa was about to say something – her mouth hanging open and her green eyes fixed on her. With the door now closed she carelessly dropped the bags on the floor and wasted no time looking through the peephole to see what the girl would do next.

Lexa stood there staring at the door for a couple seconds and took a few steps towards her own apartment just to stop and turn back around to face Clarke's apartment. She took a tentative step towards it and stopped again thinking the whole thing through. _No._ She finally turned to her apartment, unlocked the door and went in. She couldn't help glancing back at the door across the hall before closing her own, wondering if Clarke had been peeking.

Behind the door, Clarke's heart was racing as much as the thoughts in her mind. What was Lexa thinking when she almost approached her door? Was she considering talking to her? What could she possibly have to say?

"What are you doing?", Raven inquired out of the blue, scaring the bejesus out of the blonde's pants.

"Jesus Christ, Raven!", she jumped back in shock, "You sly piece of shitake mushrooms!"

"Excuse you?"

"You scared the shit out of me!"

"Whoomp! There it is", she winked "For a moment there I thought you were trying to clean out the cuss words."

Clarke rolled her eyes with amusement and conceded a smile. She knew Raven wouldn't leave her alone until she explained what had just happened so she just got on with it. They sat at the couch for a long while. Clarke told her everything, from the early morning fiasco to the latest episode. Raven tried to be supportive of her friend and not laugh too much, but it was just impossible. The blonde was a bottomless well of clumsiness. "Hey, Clarke" she said to her friend "Gotta laugh to keep from crying, right?"

The girls spent the rest of the evening talking about less embarrassing matters and cooking dinner together. Of course Clarke was feeling a little bit off because of all the recent events, but she found that the affinity she had been sharing with Raven since the beginning was a much more significant and positive outcome of the past couple of days.

"Hey, blondie", Raven called out realizing Clarke had drifted off "you still here?"

"Sorry, I'm just really tired." she yawned into the cup of her hand leaning back on the couch where they had been talking for a while now, "I think I'm gonna go head to bed now".

"Big day tomorrow, huh?"

"Tell me about it!" Clarke acknowledged thinking about how would her first day at the office be.

"Alright, then. Go show that bed who's the boss!" Raven encouraged with a smirk. Clarke laughed and uncrossed her legs to get up.

"Hey, Raven" Clarke leaned in closer and took Raven's hands into her own "I think we're gonna be really fast friends."

Both girls fell into a fit of giggles until Raven dismissed Clarke with a friendly slap on the arm "You have yet to see me naked!" she yelled to the blonde who was already on her way to the bedroom.

* * *

Clarke had been rolling in bed for an hour now. Her mind filled with all the events of the past days and her stomach clenching with anxiety for the coming day. What will their colleagues be like? What was Lexa thinking that afternoon? Is her boss going to be nice? Would she be able to face her neighbor ever again? What should she have for lunch tomorrow? Why was she always so nervous around Lexa? Did Lexa ever smile? What must her smile be like? Would her eyes look greener when she smiled? How were her eyes so green?

 _Stop!_

The blonde sits up in bed and decides to do something about her frantic state of mind. From her experience, there were just a couple of things that could efficiently lull her into sleep. Sleeping pills, that she only resorted to in the most extreme cases since she didn't like to self-medicate; and the most natural and pleasant one, orgasms. She considered her options for a while and got up from her bed walking straight to the door to lock it. She then walks over to her closet and carries her movements with caution not to make any noise. She stands on her toes and reaches for a box on the shelf. Feeling already aroused about it she opens the box and takes a lipstick sized vibrator from it.

She does like to get herself worked up and use her own fingers to do it, but sometimes, when she just wants her mind to go blank, she finds that a vibrator is more efficient. There was a time during college when she was suffering from a terrible case of insomnia and that's when she discovered the magic of the vibrators that would help her sleep nine out of ten times. Yes, she could say she was a big fan of alternative medicine.

Clarke goes back to bed, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath sliding the soft object down, between her legs. The quiet buzz of the vibrator resonates from her core all the way up to the walls of her mind, clearing all the worries away. Her free hand is wandering about the delicate patches of skin she knows very well. It starts with a soft but generous squeeze of her right breast, then the very edges of her fingertips brushing lightly against her side, her waist, her hip, her groin. She starts to ease into the thrill of the soft shocks hitting her sensitive core, the sensation spreading over her body like thousands of microscopic waves washing her, under her skin. Her body starts to slightly tremble, her left hand is gripping her thigh, her short fingernails sinking in her skin. On the spur of the moment, she's hit by a green flash behind her eyes. She increases the pressure on the vibrator. The green flash morphs into two deep orbs staring down at her. For a moment she thinks she can feel long, silky hair grazing her face. The green ocean floating above her deepens with every quiver of her body and she finally dives into it, rides its waves, swims in it.

"Fuck!", is the only thing she can shakily utter before letting herself sink.

* * *

Morning comes bringing a swirling sensation of enthusiasm and anxiousness. Clarke just finished brushing her teeth and gets ready to leave waving goodbye to her roommate with an excited grin.

"Have a good one!" Raven shouts from the kitchen, still finishing her coffee.

"You too!" Clarke beams from the door, proceeding to close it right after.

Her smile instantly falters, though, as she sees Lexa leaving her apartment at the same time. _You have got to be kidding me,_ she thinks. She freezes in place. Her cheeks instantly blushing as the fantasies from her last night orgasm surface almost automatically. Lexa seems as surprised as the blonde for a second but manages to get going and actually breaks the silence.

"Good morning", her voice sounds detached but is hardly cold, she throws a reluctant half smile Clarke's way and goes on to the stairs. Meanwhile, Clarke tries to say something but nothing comes out. Before she has a chance to recover from her stupor and respond, Lexa is already gone.

When she finally recovers her movements, she locks her door and dashes down the stairs. She doesn't really know why she's trying to catch up with the other girl. Maybe to belatedly answer her good morning, because if she doesn't, the girl might think she's being rude on purpose when, in fact, she was just puzzled by her neighbor's unexpected cordiality. She makes it to the sidewalk in no time, but deflates almost instantly after looking in both directions to find not even a sign of long wavy hair. Her chest is heaving rapidly from the sprint and little puffs of breath come out of her mouth in the gelid morning air.

"Damn it!", she hisses with frustration and fatigue. There's nothing she can do now but to make her way to the office and bury herself in work blocking out all the thoughts flying around her head – including the indecent ones. Until she starts working, though, there's not much she can do to distract herself.

She heads to the bus stop and almost misses it for when she notices the vehicle coming, it is already too close to the bus stop and she hastily signals at the last moment, causing the bus to stop abruptly. Earning a stinky eye from the driver she gets on the bus and sits on the back. She quickly dives in the memories from that morning replaying each second in her mind. Why did she had to freeze so badly? Why did Lexa flee like that? And how had she been so fast? Damn. She hadn't taken that long to lock the door. Maybe Lexa was a wizard and had just disapparated.

She wondered if Lexa was also a fan of Harry Potter. She doubted it, though. She looked too serious to enjoy this kind of incredible literature. But then she had absolutely no idea what kinds of things the girl could enjoy. She was extremely difficult to read and completely unpredictable. She didn't display any hints towards the kind of person she was. Of course it was soon for Clarke to tell any of that, she hadn't had but a few of awkward encounters with her neighbor, she couldn't possibly know anything about her other than the fact that she was absolutely beautiful. Clarke was already past the stage of trying to deny that. Hell, that had been one of the first things she had said to the girl amid her drunken state honesty downpour.

It was no reason to get so nervous around her, though. Of course she felt abashed about the mortifying way she had met the girl, but that was water under the bridge now. She was a grown up, after all, she was more than capable of getting over that. And that's what she promised herself when the bus came to a halt making her realize that hers was the next stop. When she got off, she took a deep breath and walked the remaining half block to the stylish building where she would be working. Walking up the entrance ramp, she prides herself of her achievement and opens the door exhaling confidence. She introduces herself to the receptionist who accompanies her to a large room with glass walls where a man can be seen talking over the phone. When he sees them he motions for them to enter and hangs up the phone. The receptionist excuses herself and goes back to her post leaving Clarke behind.

"You must be Ms. Griffin." He says standing up from his chair and going around a big table to greet Clarke. He reaches out his hand and opens up a polite and warm smile, "I'm Marcus Kane and I'll be your supervisor here at COL's Architecture."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kane." Clarke replied shaking hands with the apparently kind man that would be her immediate boss.

"You will come to realize that we're a big family here, Ms. Griffin." He told her "So please, call me Marcus."

"In that case, Marcus, it is only fair that you call me Clarke as well."

"Very well, Clarke." The man conceded, leaving behind the introductory formality "Now, if you'll follow me, I'd like to introduce you to the rest of your team."

Clarke followed right after and got to a large room where four rectangular desks were placed right in the middle area, equipped with state of the art computers and graphic tablets. The walls were covered with framed prints of some of the most important buildings designed by the company. Two young men were getting settled in their respective working stations when Marcus walked in the room. At the sight of Clarke walking in right behind him, they got up from their seats and waited for their boss to introduce the girl they supposed was the new intern whom they had already been informed about previously.

"Clarke, meet your teammates" he started, pointing to both boys and then directing his eyes to one of them, "This is Monty Green. He is, coincidently enough, our _Green_ Construction Analyst." The man joked. Monty approached and welcomed Clarke with a handshake. "And right beside him is Jasper Jordan. He's been with us for six months now, also as an intern."

Jasper waved from a distance showing more of a laid back attitude and greeting the girl with nothing but a "Hey!", Monty rolled his eyes to his colleague lack of courtesy but said nothing as their boss was standing right there.

"I count on you two to make Clarke feel welcomed and help her through any obstacle she might find." Marcus shifted his attention back to Clarke "Please let me know if these guys give you a hard time, Clarke. And welcome to the City of Light."

"Thank you, Mr. Kan-" Clarke started but corrected herself after getting a jokingly disapproving glance from her boss, "I mean, Marcus. Thank you, Marcus!"

The man excused himself and went back to his room. As soon as he left, Monty started telling Clarke about how the company worked and the tasks she would be responsible for on her first couple of months. Jasper didn't say much as he had recently gone through that training phase himself.

Clarke spent the rest of the day meeting the rest of the staff, the office and the materials available, besides learning about the current projects being carried and, and getting briefed on her own project. It was quite am easygoing day of work, with lots of information, of course, but Clarke was so excited to learn she took everything in more than willingly. The following days, however, were nothing like the first one. The pace of work increased with each passing day and the more she mastered her tasks, the more she realized how much she had yet to discover.

* * *

The minute Clarke stepped out of the office on Friday she felt the weight of the world being lifted from her shoulders. It was a mildly warm evening so she decided to walk home for a change and take the opportunity to lighten the built up tension from the week. It wasn't because she didn't like her new job, though – on the contrary – it was because she cared about it too much.

The routine at the office had become hectic from day two. She had never worked in such a fast pace before. But the thing that got to her the most was her own self-demanding character. She loves what she does and she can't express how thrilled she is to be part of such a talented team. So she feels the need to put all of her in it. To jump in with both feet. To seize each and every opportunity she has. She's always been like that.

When she was little, she used to watch soccer games on TV with her dad, so she started playing it at school. She would wake up at 4:30 a.m. just to be able to do a little cardio training before going to class. She would then go to practice every single day and practice by herself on the weekends when there wasn't a game. Needless to say she became the team's top scorer _and_ captain. All of that, of course, while being the top student of her class, granting her a college scholarship.

Throughout all of her life, Clarke engaged in every endeavor with her body and soul – except when it came down to love. All along high school she would see the romantic couples walking hand-in-hand, exchanging caresses and love declarations while, for her, "love" was still a foreign concept. She used to feel – and still does – as if something great was being served behind her back and she was missing it. She didn't understand what all the lovey-dovey fuzz was about. Of course she went on dates, and she did have her flings and a couple long-ish term relationships, but she could never get to that point where you feel so strongly about someone, you couldn't picture your life without them. She never understood "forever".

She would say "I love you" with great effort and, sometimes, she tried so hard to convince herself that she was in love, that she actually managed to fool herself – but only until the day she'd wake up feeling like it was all gone. Again. She was always the one breaking up with people. Breaking people's hearts, even though it wasn't intentionally. She tried really hard, but she could never try for too long. The guilt of "deceiving" so many people's feelings started to weigh on her, because even if she didn't love them, she cared deeply for them. Well, she did love them, but not like that. So she started to question herself whether she was the kind of person who wasn't "fitted" for relationships. Like it was just who she was. Like she wasn't meant to find "true love". And what was that true love nonsense anyways? Just a concept created by Disney to make people feel like shit. Probably. So she started believing it. She stopped looking for relationships. "I don't do relationships" she would say "that's just not who I am."

She had been feeling content with that setup for quite a while now, but being away from her mom and closest friends, she was starting to miss a certain closeness to people. A certain level of intimacy that required time to develop. It wasn't really about sex, it was about touching and being touched. Having a touchy-feely roommate as Raven had sure helped a lot, but still there was something missing.

Walking home that evening caused these long forgotten thoughts to jump right to the front of her mind. So she thought maybe she should go on a no-boundaries girl's night out with Raven, hitting some clubs, being surrounded by people in every possible direction. _Going to the meat market_ , she thought mischievously smiling to herself.

" _It's been a long tiiime since before I've been tooouched. Now I'm getting touched aaall the ti-iiime."_ She started singing at the top of her lungs _"And it's only a matter of whom, and it's ooonly a matter of when. An addiction to haaands and feet. There's a meat market down the street"_ she kept on without a care in the world, the energy in her already rising.

When she gets home it's almost 7 p.m. and Raven's not home yet. She puts her stuff away, washes her hand and ties her hair into a messy bun on the top pf her head – a rule every time she cooks, and she is cooking tonight. She decks her iPod to the speaker and selects the music she was previously singing from her Regina Spektor selection. She turns the volume all the way up and heads to the kitchen. She starts cooking and singing with complete abandon managing to sway her hips along to the music. She uses a spoon as a microphone, waves the dishcloth around and slides around the kitchen like she was a super star.

"Well, someone's excited!", Raven shouts behind her making the blonde to turn around in surprise. With the music so loud she didn't hear her roommate coming in. Raven drops her stuff on the couch and immediately drifts to the kitchen joining Clarke on the kitchen dancefloor.

"So," Raven starts speaking when Clarke bends down to get their dinner out of the oven, "guess who I just bumped into outside?"

Clarke's spine and head immediately shoot up and she looks at the kitchen clock. 8:07.

"Oh shit!" she mumbles hastily, placing the tray on the counter and racing to the iPod to turn the volume down.

When she returns to the kitchen, Raven is eyeing her in confusion "What the hell was that?"

"Hm?" Clarke played dumb and quickly dismissed the subject "Nothing. I hope you're hungry, dinner's ready, hot stuff" she winked.

"Don't you dare changing the subject, blondie!"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about. And, by the way, we're going out tonight!", she beamed to her friend betting on the TGIF-like distraction – but it didn't work.

"Clarke!" Raven said in a threatening tone.

"Fiiine! Okay. Fine." She gives in "I was just turning down the volume. That's all."

"Yes, I got that much, thanks" Raven deadpanned "The question is: What's with the hurry?"

"I just wanted to hear you better" she delivered nonchalantly.

"Clarke, don't lie to me. It isn't nice. And I'm not Red Fucking Riding Hood"

"You could be, though. You are just so innocent. And I'm sure you have some red attir-"

"Clarke!"

"Fine! Oh my god, woman!"

Raven didn't say anything, she just eyed the blonde waiting for an explanation. Clarke huffed out in surrender and started mumbling inaudibly, "Iturnedthe-"

"Louder, Clarke!"

"Ugh! I turned the volume down so Lexa wouldn't be bothered!", she confessed.

"Hah! I knew it!" Raven announced with a smug look on her face.

"What do you mean you knew it?" Clarke felt kind of offended with the statement. She wasn't _that_ obvious. Was she?

"I knew it. I just knew it."

"Then why did you make me say it?"

"You know why."

"Oh, do I?"

"Oh, you do."

"Raven, please, cut me some slack, I cooked dinner." She pleaded to her roommate. Raven stared at her for a while analyzing the situation.

"Okay," said the brunette "I find it amusing to see you stutter over Lexa trying to deny you have a thing for her."

"I do not have a thing for her!", she protested.

"Then why were you so desperate to turn the volume down just for her sake?", Raven challenged.

"Because" the blonde started casually "It's the polite thing to do. You know, neighborly speaking."

Raven kept an amused look expecting her roommate to say something else, but she didn't.

"Very well," Raven accepted easily, leading Clarke to believe she had gotten away with it. But the blonde didn't expect the following "but why did you do you just now? Why didn't you turn the volume down before?"

"Because you told me you saw her outside" she started, sure she would get away with any further explanations "Which means she was probably getting home now."

"Except she was leaving" Raven attempted.

"That doesn't make any sense, Raven. She gets home at 8:00 every-"

"I knew it!" Raven blurted out once again causing Clarke to look like a deer caught in the headlights, "Clarke Griffin! You, miss, are a stalker!" Raven accused between chuckles.

"I am not!" Clarke couldn't see a way out of this one so she decided to just tell her the truth, "I just noticed it this week because I could hear her shuffling out in the hall every evening, so… You know, I just got used to it. That's all." That wasn't all. But it was honest enough, she thought. Raven didn't need to know that she would peak through the peephole every day, watching their neighbor get home only to watch her disappear behind the door a few seconds later. Since the brunette's "good morning" on Monday, they hadn't crossed paths anymore and Clarke thought that staging a casual encounter by going outside around 8:00 was a little too much. Even for her. She wasn't a stalker after all.

Raven was apparently satisfied with the explanation and decided to reward her friend's honesty by not pushing into the matter more than she had already.

"Fine," she delivered "So, tell me again about us going out tonight."

Clarke let out a sigh of relief and told Raven about her plan of hitting some clubs and letting her wild side take place. Being the party animal she was, Raven didn't think twice before agreeing. They had their great home cooked dinner and talked about their day for a while before getting ready to hit the streets. Clarke went to the shower first while Raven put the dishes away and took some time to really care about her body. She wanted to feel good tonight. She wanted to feel pretty, confident and irresistible.

After a few minutes soaking in the bathtub, she went back to her bedroom to get changed while Raven took her turn in the shower. She started by, basically, taking a second shower, but using her Açai scented body oil instead of water. The deeply hydrating oil left her with a silky-smooth skin and a modest but eye-catching glow, not to mention the light but intoxicating tropical scent.

She applied a reasonable amount of hair moisturizer to her golden threads and proceeded to get her hair dry with a diffuser, turning her already natural waves into tsunami-shaped strands.

Her makeup was simple but striking – her lower-lid liner had a smoky effect and her eyelashes were covered by a lash-lengthening mascara that made her blue eyes stand out more than ever.

To top all of that, she chose a light grey dress covered in a glimmering lace. There was no cleavage and her shoulders were covered by a short and classy sleeve making the top half of the dress seem very respectable. The bottom half, however, was almost inexistent, leaving her beautiful toned legs exposed all the way up to her thighs. To complete the look, a pair of grey, velvety-soft suede, cut out heels with lace up closure.

She was stunning.

When she got back to the living room, Raven was already waiting for her with Jägerbombs on the kitchen counter ready to be downed. When Raven set eyes on her roommate, she couldn't contain the jaw dropping.

"Wow! Clarke" she dragged her words "You weren't kidding when you said you wanted to go wild. I mean… Wow!"

Clarke was aware of how beautiful she looked right now, she had put extra effort into it after all, but her roommate's comment still made her blush. Her exterior impacted her interior, though, so she was feeling quite powerful and not at all modest.

"If you've got it, flaunt it, right?" she winked to her friend as she strolled in her direction already eyeing the drinks, "I like what I see here too!"

The girls laughed and wasted no time downing the first shot. While Raven prepared them another Jägerbomb, she casually suggested to her friend "You should go out there and invite Lexa to join us."

"What?" Clarke was startled by the suggestion and actually thought was a joke.

"You heard me, Clarke."

"You cannot possibly be serious."

"Except I am."

"She would never accept and you know it."

"Except I don't know it" Raven smartly retorted "And neither do you."

"Raven, she complained about loud music on a Saturday. What makes you think she's the kind of person that likes to party?"

"She could have good reasons to change her mind about that" Raven insinuated with a hardly subtle smirk on her face,

"Don't be silly" Clarke dismissed, but actually starting to consider the idea.

"I'm serious, though. I think it would be nice. Maybe the reason why she doesn't party is because no one ever invites her" she conjectured. It wasn't an absurd idea, but Clarke still had her doubts about it.

"Why don't you go?"

"Are you scared of her?"

"Of course not!" Clarke answered way too quickly, not really certain if the answer was sincere.

"Then go."

Clarke turned around to the door, took her own sight in and felt a sudden wave of courage invade her "Ok."

The stunning blonde unlocked the door, crossed its threshold and left it opened behind her, crossing the hall to knock on Lexa's door. She was confident this time, and she knew what she was doing, so nothing could possibly go wrong. She knocked.

Looking down to her hands and playing with a blue ring, she waited for a few seconds until Lexa jerked the door open. She was wearing a loose, white see-through tank top tucked inside tight black denim and a black lace bra underneath it. Her hair was tied into a bun with half of the strands loose and, if that wasn't enough, she was wearing thick-rimmed reading glasses. It was very simple, and yet the girl looked beautiful. Adorable, really.

Lexa, however, felt a little short of breath with the sight before her. She tried not to stare but the hungry look on her face was really hard to disguise, and maybe not even herself was aware of it.

"Hi", Clarke finally said after a couple of seconds that felt longer than they actually were under the gaze of burning green eyes. She was impressively calm considering their previous encounters and had a warm and welcoming smile on her face.

"I'm Clarke", she repeated her previously failed introduction and, carefully, reached out her hand for Lexa to take. No shaming accidents this time.

"Hi, Clarke", Lexa timidly took the blonde's hand without really shaking it and allowed her neighbor some openness "I'm Lexa."

"I know," Clarke said without really thinking "I mean, it's nice to meet you", she paused for a while considering her words "Properly, I mean. It's nice to finally meet you properly."

Lexa was still very serious, but a closer look would reveal a slight uprise on the corner of her lips. It was almost imperceptible, but not for Clarke. Lexa looked down to her hands with some slight discomfort causing Clarke to realize they were still holding into unshaken hands.

"So," she said retracting her hands back. She didn't know if it was from her hands or the brunette's but they were a bit clammier than before, "Right. So, Raven and I are heading out tonight. To drink. And dance. And… you know, have some fun."

"Okay?" Lexa encouraged her to continue already imagining where this was going to.

"And we were wondering if, maybe, you'd like to join us."

"Oh." She said in surprise. For a moment, Lexa thought they would ask for some favor or ice, or something like that. But an invitation wasn't really expected.

"So," Clarke urged "Would you?"

"Oh. Right." Lexa didn't really have a ready answer for that, so she just went with the truth, "Well, I appreciate the offer, Clarke. But I can't."

"Oh?" It wasn't like Clarke was surprised, but she didn't expect to sound – or feel – so disappointed.

"I have to wake up really early tomorrow, so…" the brunette was shifting in place now, as if trying to contain something inside her as well as containing her own shifting stance. Her free hand reached behind her neck, pressing on it as if it was sore, her head bending to the side, and she attempted a half-hearted smile that didn't really reach her eyes.

"Well," Clarke sighed "Maybe next time?"

"Maybe."

Clarke smiled at the brunette and walked back to her apartment. She looked back surprised to find Lexa still standing there, looking at her. Clarke lingered by her apartment door for an extra second staring back at Lexa before finally closing it. She was in such a state she even forgot Raven was in the room. A foolish smile still playing on her lips. She doesn't even know why she's feeling that way, she just got another 'no'.

"Judging by the look on your face," Raven started bringing the blonde back to reality, "I'm gonna guess she said yes and then asked you to marry her."

Clarke beamed an idiotic smile to her friend and walked towards the kitchen counter once again, where their drinks awaited.

"Idiot", she said taking one of the glasses into her hands, "She's not coming."

"What's with that smug look on your face, then?" she reacted perplex.

"I'm just glad we're going out. Now will you join me in the shots or are you just going to keep talking?" Clarke incited her friend raising her own glass and passing another one to Raven.

"Well, someone's ready to party!"

"Damn right I am!" she beamed "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" they clinked their glasses and got ready to go. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **AN: _Whoomp! Here it is_. That's the end of this chapter. Thanks again for reading it! If you have any suggestions please let me know :)  
**

 **And to anyone who didn't get it "Dixie Chicks serious", "Whoomp, there it is" and "Really fast friends" are references from the "Pitch Perfect" movie. If you haven't watched it already I strongly recommend it.**

 **Oh, and the song Clarke was singing was "Dance Anthem of the 80's" by Regina Spektor. It's an awesome song, go listen to it :D**


	3. Chapter 3

The club was packed with energized men and women in all directions. The bars were so cramped with people waiting for their drinks one could imagine they were giving it away for free. Raven and Clarke wasted no time squeezing their way in and getting their own tequila shots _and_ a beer each.

The loud music was blasting from large speakers placed at the top of every corner of the dark, smoky room. On the dance floor, the most excited ones threw their arms up, waving it in the rhythm of the song while green lasers swayed above their heads, making it look like it would cut out people's fingers like a hot knife through butter.

Clarke battled her way in through the sea of people dragging Raven by the hand. They got to a corner by the DJ's booth and started dancing animatedly, casually sipping their cold beer. The music was a kind of electro modern rock with deep beats and electric guitar riffs so sharp they could slash a steel plate in a hundred pieces. The effect it had on their alcohol powered bodies was the same effect a charged lightening had on water. The girls were electrified.

After a whole hour of nonstop dancing, pausing briefly only to get another beer, their bodies were starting to get covered in sweat. Clarke's skin glistened with the body oil and the strobing light of the club.

"That guy's been checking you out since we stepped in here!", Raven shouts at her friend's ear, nodding towards a hot looking man to their right. Clarke looks over to check him out and he smiles at her.

"He's hot!", Clarke mouths to the dancing brunette in front of her. Raven agrees by nodding and mouthing her own "I know!"

When they least expect the guy is approaching them with a smug grin on his face. Raven, not willing to be the third wheel of the party, excuses herself from Clarke saying she's going after a sweet looking boy she had had her eyes on since they were in line waiting to get in.

"Hi," the man says as loud as he can without really shouting, "I'm Ian"

"Clarke", she tells him still dancing.

"I hope I didn't scare your friend away", he jokes and steps a bit closer to dance with Clarke.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" she laughs approving his charm.

They dance for a while, getting closer and closer each time as the beats of the music become darker and sultrier. It's with a very smooth movement that he places his hand on her waist pulling their bodies close together, his alluring eyes then falling on her mouth. She doesn't know what gets into her when he does it, but it somehow bothers her. She doesn't get away immediately, giving it a chance to get used to his embrace. But when he tries to kiss her she jerks back away from him.

He looks at her a little offended and she looks back apologetically, but also surprised with her own reaction. He tries to advance on her one more time and she instinctively ditches him again.

"I'm sorry" she says as she walks away from him.

Moving through the dance floor isn't an easy task as the place is even more crowded than when they got there. Some people try to engage with her while she crosses the room, one girl even grabs a hold of her arm. She turns around thinking it might be Raven but it isn't. The stranger smiles at her and invites her to dance. She thinks about it for a second but decides she's not really in the mood, so she excuses herself and resumes her challenge of getting away from the dance floor, heading to the bar.

She sits there for a while looking around searching for Raven but the brunette is nowhere to be found. She takes a shot of Tequila and starts walking around to try and find her friend. She takes her phone from her pocket and texts Raven.

 _"Hey, where are you?"_ she hits send and waits by the bar for a few minutes.

She orders another shot of tequila and thinks about going back to the dance floor, maybe find that girl and... _No_. When she starts thinking about kissing the girl, or that other guy, she feels like it would be a mistake.

She feels something weird, like a little echo inside of her, exposing the so long hidden emptiness in there. She knew where the emptiness came from, she just couldn't explain why it had, all of a sudden, become so obvious and unnerving.

Half an hour had passed since she texted Raven and there was no sign of the girl, so she just decides to leave.

When she steps outside the abeyance of the loud frenetic music hits her senses instantly, to which she closes her eyes to appreciate its calmness. All the alcohol in her blood makes the sensation all the more exhilarating.

She takes a deep breath enjoying the sensation of the late night chilling breeze infiltrating her airways, washing her tissues all the way to her lungs. The air feels like a cold but welcomed hug causing the thin hairs on her arm to rise. The pores on her skin sticking up, eager to be caressed by the night.

She reopens her eyes and looks around for any sign of Raven. There's a group of people sitting at the sidewalk smoking but she's not there. She thinks about asking if they saw anyone like Raven passing by but decides not to do so. Instead, she reaches for the phone on her pocket and calls Raven. No one picks up. All kinds of thoughts start running through her head. What if something happened? What should she do? Is it possible she's worrying over nothing? Maybe Raven just can't hear her phone. Did she even have her phone on her when they left?

All these thoughts and the added alcohol effect are making Clarke's head spin. She braces herself on the wall and decides not to freak out for now and to wait for Raven to get in touch with her.

She doesn't really want to go home yet so she just allows her feet to take her somewhere her mind can relax. Despite the late hour, the streets are still alive with young inebriated souls like her. The bright, colorful lights from the late night establishments reflect everywhere from the walls to the sidewalks to Clarke's distant eyes.

She's completely lost in thought when, suddenly, something catches her attention. She's passing by a random looking bar when its doors jerk open allowing the music inside to leak all the way to Clarke's ears. It's a soft piano tune, completely different from the overwhelming craziness she'd been dancing to not long ago. The song has a certain pull on her and when she realizes, she's already inside the bar. It's a small, dark and old looking bar. The place is basically empty but for half a dozen people here and there. The average age of the frequenters is probably around 45 and Clarke is pretty sure she's the youngest person there.

The moment she gets inside, pretty much all the heads turn around to look at her. It's clear they are surprised with such a young customer coming in, especially that late in the night, but the surprise quickly fades as they resume minding their own business. It's funny and warm, like there is some kind of silent understanding. Either way, it feels quite welcoming.

Clarke scans the room trying to decide where to sit. There are countless tables available but they all look too big for her, even the small ones, so she decides for one of the bar stools. The attendant behind the bar hands her a menu without saying anything and busy himself with wiping the counter in front of him.

Clarke spends a few good minutes skimming through the ragged menu without really taking anything in. When she finally puts it down, the attendant returns to take her order.

"What can I get you, kid?", the man behind the counter is really old, his face engraved with the remnants of a thousand emotions from the past.

"I don't know," Clarke wavers, "I thought I wanted a drink. Or many. But I'm feeling this… hole in my stomach, you know... So, I think maybe it's better to eat something? Right? What do you think?"

Clarke is obviously still drunk, slurring her words out with some difficulty and tilting her head to the side while talking to the man.

"I think you've had enough drinks, lady", starts the old man with nothing but sincerity in his voice, "But it seems to me you're not really talking about food now, are you?"

"What...?", Clarke stares at him with a puzzled look in her eyes not really sure what the man is talking about. She goes over the words she has just said, looking for a hint of what he could possibly be talking about when the recent events of her night dawn on her, "Oh."

The man says nothing, he just grins at her. The smile bringing up even more wrinkles to a face already marked by time and knowledge.

"Wow, you're really good at this!" Clarke recognizes, impressed by his ability of reading her.

"Thirty years in the business," he reminisces "and one big lesson."

"What's that?", Clarke inquires fully focused on what the man has to say.

"Millions of souls in this world," he says with great wisdom laced to each word, "and one common denominator..."

Clarke leans in closer on the bar counter ready to listen to what she senses could be the answer for life and the world's biggest secret, for the man is now very serious and secretive, his wise eyes staring right back at her.

"Love" he says simply.

 _That's it? The great answer for life and the world's biggest secret is..._

"Love?" Clarke seems a bit disappointed. It's not like she was expecting something great and complex, but she was hoping for something a little less _cliché_.

"You seem unimpressed" he guesses good-naturedly "Were you expecting something different?"

"I don't think so, no…" she's still a little aloof, half lost in thought, half waiting for more "It's just…"

Clarke shrugs and picks the shabby menu back up, her eyes searching for something she doesn't really know. She doesn't know.

"I don't know", she whispers without meeting his eyes, still looking at the menu "I don't really know if I know what _love_ is."

"Well, you probably don't." the man says with conviction, but not so much as to make him sound judgmental. Clarke's eyes instantly meet his and she shoots him a slightly insulted look daring him to continue talking.

" _The goals we pursue are always veiled_." he kindly tells her with wisdom in his voice, " _A girl who longs for marriage longs for something she knows nothing about. The boy who hankers after fame has no idea what fame is._ "

A bell dings behind him and he reaches back towards the square kitchen hatch grabbing a portion of fries and sliding it to Clarke. He smiles up at her and concludes, " _The thing that gives our every move its meaning is always totally_ _unknown to us._ "

* * *

It's just after five in the morning when Clarke sobers up and decides to take the not-so-long walk home instead of just getting into a cab and risking gaining yet another heartfelt speech from a complete stranger. It's not like she didn't appreciate it, but the hangover was starting to kick in and she didn't know if she could handle a further analysis into her thoughts, let alone her feelings.

With the anticipation of an alcohol-fueled night long gone, walking on those heels was now a torture and the choice of wearing them seemed terribly poor. She thinks about taking them off but she realizes the tick-tock of the heels on the concrete sidewalk are actually soothing. That, and she doesn't need this to look any more like a walk-of-shame than it already does. Although if she's being honest to herself, it feels more like a walk-of- _lame_.

She is just a couple blocks away from getting home when the sky starts to brighten up. It's quite a cloudy morning so none of the soft pastels of yellow, pink and blue Clarke loves so much can be seen. She internally laments the fact looking up to the sky. One of her favorite things about going out and retuning early in the morning was the chance of watching the sun rise, that golden aura dawning from the horizon bathing every reachable surface, making even the black asphalt look so spectacular as the mythical city of El Dorado.

Contemplating the grey sky wasn't nearly as inspiring, of course, but it kind of had its charm. It held a certain melancholy to it that could only be beaten by a long day of nonstop raining and thunder.

"Damn it!" Clarke cusses while balancing herself not to fall from stumbling. Walking on those heels while looking up proves to be quite a bad idea, unless of course, tripping was her plan all along. She looks back automatically to check what had caused her to stumble but her eyes barely get to the ground for when she turns around she notices something quite peculiar. A man. An odd looking man with a hat hiding his face, an unusual balance in his walk and a rather tense guise on his shoulders. His right arm is hiding a little behind his back and then she sees something shiny falling from his hand. It's a knife. A big ass kitchen knife, like the ones people use to make sushi. You know, them big and sharp knives. The man looks up at her - his eyes bloodshot red - and then back down to his knife. He ineptly bends down to pick up the object at the same time Clarke increases her pace. It all happens very quick then. He starts running after her and she starts running away from him. She's almost getting to the next corner, the man about 5 yards behind her, when someone dashes from around the corner running straight into her. It's a girl. She's wearing a plain black cotton t-shirt, black running shorts and Bordeaux running snickers. Her brown hair is darkened by sweat and her eyes are bright and green. The most beautiful green she has ever seen.

"Lexa!" she yelps "Oh my god! Run!"

A startled Lexa looks ahead past Clarke to find the odd looking man running right into them. She aptly pushes Clarke aside and behind her and goes right into the man's direction. The man advances with the knife in hand pointing right into Lexa's direction. She expertly moves aside at the last second and swiftly grabs the man's armed hand under her right arm. With her left arm she pushes the guy's head back by his throat making his torso arch. With that movement, the man's knife is gone from his hand. Lexa turns his torso around and is able to grab a hold of his whole head against her stomach while her arm squeezes strongly around his neck. She's holding him exactly in place when she hears Clarke calling her.

"Lexa, wait! What are you doing?"

But the brunette keeps choking the man with her arm.

"Please, Lexa!" she pleads "Just leave him, he's just high on something, he doesn't really mean harm. Come on."

Lexa studies the blonde, the cold of the blue turning hot in her eyes. Lexa moderately knocks his head in a ninja kind of way and the man instantly blacks out. She carefully lays him on the sidewalk and promptly gets herself back up.

It isn't until Lexa is completely up that Clarke realizes the blood on the other girl's hand. "Oh my god, Lexa, you're bleeding!"

She runs in the other girl's direction and takes her hand. A deep, two inch long cut at the palm of her hand. She looks around searching for something to use as bandage, now cussing herself for using such a short, non-cottony dress and not having any jacket or whatever. Then she looks straight at the girl before her. "Take off your shirt!"

"What?"

"Take off your shirt! We have to stop the bleeding!"

"Clarke, it's not so bad, I can just-"

"Don't be stupid! That's a lot of blood!" she barks. She realizes her overreaction and excuses herself, "I'm sorry. Lexa, I'm sorry. I'm just. It's... It's just I'm really over protective over things like that. You know. Like... Look, I can explain it later, if that's okay?"

Lexa nods and takes off her shirt to wrap around her hand. She's left standing with nothing but her black sports bra and black shorts. The chilly morning air collides with her sweat covered torso. It makes her shiver. "Let's go."

"Thank you." Clarke whispers before they start walking the remaining distance to their building "Now, keep your hand up to your chest and keep the pressure."

Without even thinking about it, Clarke instinctively wraps her arms around the other girl's middle shielding her uncovered torso from the cold air the best she can. The contact makes Lexa tense up. Clarke's so worked up from the whole thing she doesn't even realize how flustered the girl gets. They cross the street leading to their building and Clarke looks back to make sure the guy hasn't woken up. He's still passed out on the sidewalk.

They get to the building in no time and enter the hall. Stopping in front of the stairs, Clarke lets go of Lexa and looks at her – to her injured hand, to the stairs, then back at the girl. Lexa, guessing what's going on in the blonde's head, gives the first step towards the stairs and looks back to the blonde.

"I'm fine. It's just a cut", she assures throwing a persuasive glance, "On my _hand_ , moreover!"

"I know. I know." Clarke points out won over "I was just making sure."

Lexa's lips perk up for a second but Clarke doesn't really notice it. She feels a bit regretful thinking about her overreaction upon seeing the blood on her neighbor's hand. They're walking up the stairs in silence when Clarke's contemplation is interrupted by Lexa's voice.

"Besides, you wouldn't be able to carry me even if I let you."

"Hey!" Clarke pretends to be offended by the comment and, for the first time, realizes the semi-naked state of the girl before her. She scans Lexa's body up and down to check her physique and feels her skin starting to burn. The girl is rather skinny, she's not jacked but her torso is beautifully outlined – front and back. And the back… _wow_. A big, black and puzzling tattoo graces the middle of her back, right on her spine. She studies the drawing with curiosity in her eyes trying to decipher it, but she's clueless as to what it is. She takes a mental note to ask the girl about it - eventually.

They're side by side when they get to their floor and Clarke just keeps walking to the right towards her own apartment. Lexa turns left instead, heading to her respective apartment.

"What are you doing?" Clarke chimes in as she realizes the girl isn't behind her anymore.

"I'm… getting home?" Lexa explains a little bemused.

"No way," Clarke says as she approaches the girl and takes her by the non-wounded hand "I'm checking your hand first. Come on."

"Clarke, you really don't have to-"

"That's not an option" Clarke cuts her short already opening the door and dragging the girl inside, "Take a sit, I'll get my first aid kit."

Lexa didn't even have a chance to decline when she was left alone standing in the middle of her neighbor's living room. She looks around taking everything in but is too uncomfortable to move even an inch, so when Clarke gets back she's still standing at the same spot the blonde had left her.

"Look, Clarke, my hand is fine." She starts saying as soon as the girl comes back "It doesn't even hurt."

Clarke looks at her unaffectedly and just nods her head towards the couch, "Sit."

Lexa is somewhat dumbstruck by the blonde's authoritative manner but decides it will be best to just let her do whatever she wants to do without arguing. She sits down on the couch then but not without throwing an insolent look back at the blonde. Clarke acknowledges the look with a cheeky grin and sits beside the brunette placing a bigger than normal med kit on the coffee table in front of them.

Clarke takes her neighbor's hand into her own and slowly unrolls the sweat and blood soaked t-shirt.

"Shit" she utters after softly removing the cloth completely "The bleeding hasn't stopped yet."

She reaches over the table for a piece of clean cloth she brought along with the kit and gently presses the cloth against the cut. "We're gonna have to keep the pressure on it for a while before cleaning it."

"Alright," Lexa agrees and looks down to their joined hands. Clarke is gently holding her bleeding limb between her two hands. _But I can press it myself,_ she thinks "But-"

"No 'buts'. I'll release you when I'm done bandaging this" Clarke interjects and gives no time for her to retort "Now tell me about those ninja skills!"

Lexa thinks about coming clean to the blonde and explaining she was just trying to say she could pressure the cut herself. But the excitement in Clarke's eyes are too endearing and she doesn't feel like hindering it so she just complies with the girl's request.

"Do you know what Krav Maga is?" she starts.

"Isn't it some kind of badass fighting thing?" Clarke guesses earning a chuckle from the brunette.

"You could say that, yes." she explains "It's a self-defense system developed by the Israeli. It combines techniques from different kinds of martial arts but it focuses on real-life situations like, you know…"

"I know." Clarke understands instantly remembering the impressive skillfulness of the girl sitting beside her "So you are trained in that."

"Yes." Lexa confirms "But I also train other people."

"Oh?" Clarke couldn't say she was surprised, the girl's abilities were proof enough of how experienced she was, but still.

"That's actually what I do for a living" she supplies "I'm a Krav Maga instructor."

"That's so cool!" Clarke declares visibly interested by the brand new information she has just gathered from her mysterious neighbor "How did you get into that?"

Lexa's demeanor visibly wavers at the question but the girl quickly picks up at that and puts on a casual front before looking down to her hand. It's only then that she notices Clarke's thumb brushing softly against the back of her hand. Following the brunette's green eyes, Clarke lets her own eyes fall on their joined hands only to take in the absent-minded caress she had been performing for god only knows how long on Lexa's skin.

"Do you think the bleed-"  
"We should check the blee-"

Both girls talk at once. Both flushing from realization. And both trying to disguise the embarrassment by changing the subject.

"Yes."  
"Probably a good idea."

They speak at the same time again. Not willing to commit the same mistake they just fall into silence while Clarke removes the cloth from Lexa's hand.

"It stopped" Clarke reveals already standing up from the couch "Let's clean it now."

Lexa just follows her to the kitchen sink without saying a word. Clarke opens the faucet and warns "This might sting a little."

Lexa chuckles at the comment earning a curious look from the blonde that was, until then, completely focused on her hand "What's funny?"

She doesn't say anything, just shakes her head and looks down to her arm, a much bigger scar marks her skin but the blonde still hasn't noticed it. Clarke looks back down at the same time but focuses on the girl's cut. She rinses the wound under the running water and quickly glances back to Lexa's face expecting a flinch but she sees none. She proceeds to clean the cut softly applying some soap on it. Clarke closes the faucet and leads Lexa back to the couch where they sit again.

"What about you?" Lexa asks out of the blue earning a questioning look from the blonde "Are you some kind of doctor? Nurse?"

"I'm not," Clarke smirks at her "But I could probably patch you up. Your hand, I mean. I actually went to Med School for a couple of years."

"A couple? So you didn't finish?" Lexa asks intrigued. After gaining a 'no' head shake from the blonde she continues "What happened?"

Clarke lets out a huff letting a bit of a mind struggle show "I don't really know."

"You don't know?"

"No. I mean, I do know. It's just..." the blonde searches for an easy explanation within her thoughts but nothing was ever simple when it came to that subject "It's complicated."

Sensing the distress in the blonde's voice, Lexa decides to drop the matter and just continue the conversation "What is it that you do then?"

"Well, that I can easily answer" she jokes "I'm an architect"

"That's quite an area change."

"Yea, I mean, why save people's lives when you can design awesome places for them to live and work and whatnot" it's a joke but it actually holds some truth to it that she proceeds to explain "Seriously though, did you know that, during our lifetime, we spend 90% of our time indoors?" she hurriedly informs, "that's twenty two and a half years out of twenty five.

"Is that right?" Lexa appears to be very surprised and waits for Clarke to keep talking about it paying total attention to the blonde.

"Yup!" the blonde answers with a pop of her lips "It's not even that surprising if we think about it though. But anyway, I just think it's important you know, if we're gonna spend so much time surrounded by walls and ceilings and all in between... It better be beautiful. Like, have you ever seen the Seattle Central Library? Or the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt? Can you imagine spending hours in there, reading, studying, and discovering new things but at the same time being inspired by its magnificent beauty?"

Lexa watches Clarke rambling on and on about how architecture is a kind of art and about the power of art on people's lives - it is quite entertaining, but it is mostly magical. While the blonde talks, Lexa can see a spark in her eyes unlike anything she has ever seen. She can see Clarke is really passionate about the beautiful things in the world and it makes her want to show the blonde all the beautiful things she knows. Well, maybe not all, but some of them at least. You know, because sharing is nice.

"I'm sorry. I was rambling. I do that sometimes." Clarke apologizes without realizing she's taking Lexa out of some sort of trance.

Lexa discreetly shakes herself from her reverie and opens up an honest smile "It's alright"

"Wow" it falls from Clarke's lips absent-mindedly.

"What?"

 _It's the first time I'm seeing you actually smile and it's beautiful,_ she thinks.

"I just realized I haven't thanked you yet" she manages to say instead "You know, for saving my ass."

"It was nothi-"

"Thank you" Clarke's blue eyes are filled with honesty and this honesty - and also maybe something else - is piercing right into green eyes. Clarke reaches for Lexa's arm and gives it a soft squeeze before letting her hand fall down the girl's arm in a caress. "Really."

Lexa gulps and smiles awkwardly before breaking the moment "I should probably go. I..."

"Oh. Right." Clarke shakes herself jumping a bit backwards "You probably have stuff to do."

"And you probably have some sleep to catch up on" Lexa jokes scanning the blonde's attire from the previous night.

"Yea, well" Clarke doesn't know why she's blushing, she hasn't done anything wrong. She's young. She's allowed to spend the night out and come back early in the morning.

Lexa gets up and throws a resolute look at Clarke giving one small step towards the door. Clarke follows her to the door and opens it.

"Thanks for..." she raises her bandaged hand "this."

She then crosses the hall and unlocks her door when she hears the blonde calling back at her the same way she had done that first time they met "Hey!"

Lexa turns around expectantly but without knowing what to expect exactly so she just waits for the blonde to resume talking.

"Have dinner with me" Clarke invites. Realizing how that might sound, Clarke quickly adds "with us. Raven and I."

Lexa opens her mouth to answer but is cut short by the blonde before she manages to do so.

"As a thank you, you know. You probably shouldn't cook with this hand, so..." she explains before stating "I won't take no for an answer."

Lexa is starting to get used to this bossy attitude so she just smiles and nods her agreement before closing the door "See you later."

Clarke is starting to close the door when she sees Raven walking down the stairs from the superior floor.

"There you are!", Clarke yelps making her roommate look like a deer caught in headlights "Where were you? I was worried!"

"Sssshhh" Raven whispers squinting her eyes "I wouldn't be so loud if I were you. Unless you want to see my head exploding in a million bloody pieces and scrape parts of my brain off the walls after"

"Thanks for the visual" Clarke says with distaste "But I've had my share of blood for the day, thank you."

Raven raiss a brow in both curiosity and concern and steps closer to Clarke scanning over her body for any clues "What do you mean? What happened?"

"You're not gonna believe this."

* * *

The girls sat on the couch with Clarke telling the crazy stories of how her night had been and how it had drastically turned into a scene right out of a horror movie, and then an action movie and then-

"Did you kiss her in the end and turned it into a romance?" Raven interrupted batting her eyelashes mockingly.

"I'm not even going to answer that."

"Oooh, you did!"

"Of course I didn't!"

"She did!?"

"No, Raven! There was no kissing"

"Bummer."

Clarke casts a sneering look on her friend and resumes her telling of events "Anyway, she's coming over for dinner tonight. And I'm gonna count that you're gonna be on your best behavior."

"Are you implying that I don't behave properly?" Raven says faking offence.

"Yes."

"Clarke María Griffin de las Torres!" Raven retorts dramatically acting like she was acting on a soap opera scene "I've given you shelter and food-"

"I paid for all of that" Clarke scoffs unimpressed.

"AND LOVE!" Raven shouts even more dramatically "And that's how you repay me? By speaking ill of me?"

"Hey, Raven" Clarke says completely ignoring the scene "What were you doing upstairs?"

Raven's demeanor changed from defiant to lost in a millisecond "What?"

"You heard me." Clarke pressed "Where were you last night?"

"Oh, you know. Around. Hey, you must be tired. Why don't you go get some rest and I'll wake you up for dinner?"

"I really am exhausted" she confesses, leading Raven to believe she would drop the previous matter "But don't think you're getting away with it. I'm coming back for you, Raven Consuela Reyes de las Cruces"

"I really love you though, Clarke María" Raven confesses beaming to the blonde and pulling her in for a hug.

"Shut up, Raven Consuela. I know you're just trying to bribe me with your emotions." Clarke jokes patting her friend's back. "Now let me go or I will fall asleep in your arms."

"Ew no! Just go then!" Raven sneers jokingly pushing Clarke away "I don't wanna get my ass kicked by your probably jealous girlfriend."

"Oh, shut up, Raven." Clarke smacks her friend's arm and gets up, walking towards her room.

"I love you too!" Raven shouts back at her.

* * *

When the alarm went off, Clarke instantly shot from the bed and headed straight to the shower. It was very unusual for the blonde having so much disposition after a long night, especially a night like the one she had but, for some reason, she was filled with energy.

After all the body and hair routine, Clarke decided she wanted to be comfortable for the evening so she settles for some yoga pants and her old soccer team hoodie.

It was almost dinner time and she thought it would be a good idea to give a quick knock on her neighbor's door and remind her of dinner, you know, just in case.

Clarke is standing with her socked feet in front of Lexa's apartment for a while now, waiting for someone (well, Lexa) to open. She wonders if the girl is out but decides to knock once more, you know, just in case. A whole minute goes by before Lexa finally opens the door, her hair is dripping wet as if she just left the shower and her injured hand is half covered with a sloppy attempt of bandage.

"Clarke?" she says with a hint of surprise and looking over to the clock to check the time.

"Hey" Clarke gets ahead and explains her early visit "I just wanted to remind you about dinner. Just letting you know we're gonna start in about an hour", she scans over the brunette's disheveled look and completes "No need to hurry though."

"Yea, uhm, look" Lexa starts "You really don't have to do that."

"But I want to." Clarke is resolute, aggressive almost, but still soft. Until it occurs to her that maybe there is a reason for the girl's resistance "Unless you have other plans, you know, with someone else... then-"

"No. No." Lexa hurries to explain, but then she realizes the apparent eager in her voice and slows it down, maybe too evidently "I don't. Have plans. With anyone. I just, uhm, don't wanna be a nuisance"

"Not at all, I'm glad we're doing it." Clarke's eyes get comically wide and she naturally starts to ramble "This. I'm glad we're doing this. Us and Raven. Dinner. With Raven. Tonight. Anyway..."

Clarke's cheeks are burning. Again. It almost seems to be an automatic response to her neighbor, along with the occasional rambling. She scolds herself for her clumsiness and realizes Lexa is trying to hide a hint of a smile, it's silly. So she takes a deep breath and eases back into her non-rambling state, her attention goes back to the sloppy bandaging job on the girl's hand and she takes a step forward to take it into her own hands "This is a joke, please let me help you with that."

"Oh, it's okay, it's-" Lexa starts but before she knows it Clarke is already excusing herself into her apartment without as much as an invitation.

The blonde looks around the room intrigued with how different it is from her own living room, it doesn't even look like the same building. The room is very dark and has an ethereal feel to it. There's a big rug on the floor and all kinds of pillows thrown on top of it. There is no TV and no electronics at all, just a two feet tall, L-shaped shelf packed with vinyl records. On top of the shelf a few candles, incenses and an old record player complete the minimalist decoration.

"Wow" Clarke says taking everything in "You really know how to set a mood."

"Please, come in" Lexa mocks after closing the door behind her. She just stands there and observes the curious blonde standing one step away from her.

"It smells funny in here"

"Oh, so besides barging in you are also prone to straight face depreciate others' household?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I love it! What is this incense made of?" Clarke asks as she turns around to face Lexa again. They now stand only one foot away from each other.

"..."

"Yea, I know I can be a little intruder sometimes. But that's just the way it is, you know? When you open the door it gets harder to resist."

Clarke stops talking altogether and there's a weird silence for a while. She doesn't really know what she's talking about anymore. Lexa doesn't know how to react either. Neither of them knows if that had meant something different, something deeper. Clarke takes a small step towards Lexa, her blue eyes fixed on green ones. The silence around them is getting thicker by the second and it makes the space between them seem even smaller than it already is.

Lexa tries to open her mouth to break the silence but last thing she knows her back is slamming the door behind her and Clarke is getting closer and closer to her. Their breathing is shallow and ribcages turn into amplifiers for they can both hear each other's heartbeat. Clarke doesn't know what she's doing, Lexa reasons why she isn't moving. _Move,_ she tells herself; _Stop_ , the blonde thinks. And that's when the knock comes. Two. On the door right behind Lexa's back. It sounds as loud as a thousand shattering plates.

Clarke instantly backs away as Lexa takes a leveling breath before unlocking the door. She tries to plaster an unflustered face. She fails. She opens the door nonetheless. It's Raven.

"Hey, Lex, is Clarke there?"

"Lex?" Clarke chimes in from behind.

"Dude, what the fuck? I wake up from my nap the door is opened and you're nowhere in the house." Raven explains in one single breath, not exactly mad but flustered enough that the flustering on the other girls' faces go completely over her head.

"Oh, Raven! I'm sorry I wasn't supposed to come inside" - _Oh, now she knows that_. - "but Lexa needed help changing her bandages and I completely forgot the door was still open. I'm really sorry."

Raven just looked back between the two girls, not saying a thing. Breaking the silence, Clarke wisely added "Don't forget that you still have to tell me what you did last night slash this morning."

Raven sighed and shrugged "I'm just glad you're alive. I'm gonna go start dinner."

She then turns around and walks back into the apartment closing the door immediately.

Lexa tries to imply that Clarke should go too by stepping aside from the door but the blonde moves further into the apartment and looks around before saying "So, where can I get new bandages for you?"

"Clarke?"

"No, Lexa, listen. Nothing happened."

"But-"

"Nothing happened."

Lexa scans every curve and every inch on Clarke's face, looking for a hint of what the blonde could be thinking. Nothing. Her face is a fortress. She's impenetrable.

"So... The bandages?" Clarke requires once again as if nothing had happened.

Lexa forces herself to follow in the blonde's footsteps and pretend. She silently walks to her bathroom where the first aid kit is and takes it back to Clarke who starts to redo the bandage.

"So, I actually forgot to ask if you have any dietary restriction" Clarke announces out of the blue in one that would have to be the most awkward of all their many awkward encounters.

"None."

"Nice."

They remain silent until Clarke finishes the bandage. She wastes no time in getting up and walking back to the door.

"You should come as soon as you're ready, we can hang out, maybe watch something until dinner is ready" she finishes it with a shrug and a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. The brunette in front of her is still a bit shaken but nods.

When Clarke is gone, Lexa finally lets go of a breath she didn't even know she was holding. What the fuck has just happened? How the fuck is she supposed to pretend nothing happened? Was it that big of a deal, though? They had been through so many awkward moments already, what would another one mean? Nothing, really.

So she just finishes getting ready - finding it way easier now that the bandage is actually protecting her wound. She then grabs a bottle of wine from a cabinet and takes a deep breath. _Nothing happened._

She crosses the hall, knocks on the door and holds her breath. She casually throws her hair to the side when the door opens. It's Raven. She releases the air from her lungs and raises the wine bottle to their eye level announcing herself quite timidly "Hi"

Raven opens up a big smile and steps aside to let her neighbor in "Come in, Lexa Lee!"

Lexa chuckles softly and corrects the other brunette "Actually, Bruce Lee was trained in Wing Chun, not Krav Maga" the brunette clarifies handing the wine to Raven.

"Well, from what I was told you're both ninjas anyway"

"Ninjutsu is a different kind of art altogether" she corrects again earning a dismissive wave of hand from Raven.

"Art?" Clarke pipes in from the kitchen. Lexa's guts churn around in her stomach upon hearing the blonde's voice and only then she sees her moving around in the kitchen. She ignores the weird feeling bubbling up inside her and elaborates her previous statement "Well, ninjutsu is considered to be more an art of tricks than a martial art."

"Why is it called Martial Art, though?"

"Martial refers to 'Mars', the Roman god of war."

"But art..?" Clarke provokes.

Knowing how strongly the blonde feels about art, Lexa adopts a different approach to explain. She takes a few steps towards the kitchen leaning on the counter and directing her words to the girl.

"Tell me, Clarke, do you consider _dance_ as a form of art?"

"Yes, of course"

"So, you see, Martial Art is just like dancing" she begins, and then she stares deeply into blue eyes to make her point "it's just way, way deadlier"

Raven is watching the whole exchange with amusement in her eyes, she can feel a certain tension between the girls and decides to cut through before things get too weird "You have a really good point, Lex. I had never thought about it that way."

The girls immediately look at Raven suddenly aware she's been there the whole time, still holding the bottle Lexa had just handed to her.

"Yes," Clarke follows "I have to confess it's the perfect way to put it."

They all seem pleased with the outcome of Raven's subtlety when Clarke's curiosity strikes back again, "So, _Lex_?"

Lexa turns around to read the expression on the blonde's face and then shifts back to look at Raven expecting some kind of explanation from the other brunette because, honestly, she doesn't even know where that nickname had come from, she had never been close to her neighbor like that.

Raven realizes they were both expecting something from her so she complies "I just feel really friendly today."

She shrugs and moves around to the kitchen to get three glasses and the bottle opener.

"How can I help?" Lexa says to both of them.

"You've helped more than enough" Clarke smiles throwing a look to the girl's hand.

"But if you want, you can help me finish this bottle" Raven provides along with a wink. She places the three glasses on the counter and pours the wine in them. She hands a glass to each one of the girls and raises it for a toast "Here's to being friendly and kicking some ass."

She smiles to Lexa and Clarke and takes a sip of her wine. The girls follow suit returning Raven's smile and then look at each other. They may think they are being subtle but Raven sees everything. Throughout the whole evening she sees the tension between the two, the stolen glances, Clarke's incessant lip-licking and Lexa's fidgety stance. The whole dinner goes smoothly with them talking about art, work, Clarke's old soccer team, everything really and actually getting to know more of their mysterious neighbor. When they're halfway through their meal, the bottle of wine is already empty so Raven gets up to get another one. She fills all the glasses up without anyone even noticing, just like when she does it with the third bottle.

When they finish, Lexa helps putting the stuff away even with Clarke's insistence for her not to do so. It's all over and done when Lexa starts excusing herself "Well, that was great, Clarke, Raven."

"What do you think you're doing?" Raven says pretending to be confused "The night's not over yet. Stick around, let's watch something. Clarke tells me you don't have a TV so take a sit and enjoy ours for a change."

Clarke's cheeks get slightly warm, and so does Lexa's. She doesn't really have an excuse to leave so early so she looks back at Clarke trying to find a way out of it.

"Yea, it's early." Clarke says with maybe too much conviction "Stay a while."

With a lack of something better to say, Lexa has no option but to say yes. Well, she could say she's tired, she could say she has stuff to do. She does have an option. She just doesn't want to admit that she actually wants to stay. But for some reason she does. "Okay."

"Awesome!" Raven celebrates her victory and throws herself on the farthest end of the couch. "What should we watch?"

Clarke and Lexa are looking at the couch trying to decide where to sit. It's a small couch and Raven alone takes almost half of the space with her legs folded by her side. Clarke finally decides to sit in the middle, right beside Raven, leaving the other end of the couch free for Lexa.

When they sit, it's like both of them are calculating their movements not to get too close to each other, almost as if their contact would trigger a bomb to go off.

"How about a scary movie?" Raven suggests since none of the girls has offered an opinion.

"I don't know, Raven" Clarke considers but doesn't seem too excited "I was thinking about something more relaxing."

"If you want something relaxing you should get a massage." She mocks the blonde and then directs her words to the stiff brunette at the other end of the couch "Do you also want to relax, Lexa?"

 _Oooh, this smooth idiot. It's a trick!_ , Clarke thinks hoping Lexa is aware of Raven's maneuver.

Lexa mulls over the question analyzing her possible answers and its implications and, even though she's not the biggest fan of horror movies - she finds it too boring - she decides that this is the best alternative "Something scary works for me."

"Ugh!" Clarke utters, although she's actually relieved. She really doesn't want Raven to suggest they massage each other, which she was sure was the brunette's intention. "Fine. But you choose it."

Raven browses the horror titles on Netflix for a while and finds one that looks interesting "How about this one?" Raven makes a somber murderous-like voice and reads the synopsis " _When young girls start to go missing within a religious cult, older followers fear a long-told prophecy while the younger members suspect abusive elders are killing them off_."

"It's poorly rated. What do the reviews say?" Clarke asks.

They skim through the reviews and are left in the same place as half the people trash the movie and the other half praises it.

"They say the ending is surprising" Raven comments.

"Isn't that like a prerequisite for movies?" Lexa offers unimpressed "I mean, why would someone make a movie with a predictable ending?"

"It happens more often than it should, true." Raven agrees.

"Yea, yea. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, there is a problem, they fix it and live happily ever after. Blah blah." Clarke complains with distaste in her voice.

"I didn't hear you complain about that when it started with 'girl meets girl' when we watched that _'Can't think straight'_ movie." Raven mocks poking the blonde in the side.

"That's different!" Clarke's cheeks turn slightly pink and she starts justifying herself "With lesbian movies you can't really know if 'girl meets girl' will actually end with 'happily ever after', there's a big chance one of them will eventually die or find the right man or something like that."

"True." Lexa says automatically. Clarke's head instantly turn to look at the girl with recognition in her eyes and the brunette's cheeks get hot.

"Fiiiine" Raven concedes pretending impatience "Does that mean I can just press play on this supposedly horrible but surprising movie?"

"Yes." both Clarke and Lexa speak at the same time.

When the movie starts, Clarke and Lexa are still too aware of each other's closeness to get comfortable in the couch. They're both stiff, immobile and holding their breaths. It takes them about 7 minutes to ease off the stress and start enjoying the movie.

"That girl is cute" Clarke comments on the main character. Upon hearing that, a chuckle escapes from Raven's mouth so the blonde demands an explanation "What?"

"Nothing." Raven concedes still holding a laugh.

"No, what is it?" Clarke insists.

"I thought I was supposed to behave tonight, Clarke. Would you like to take that back?" Raven provokes the blonde who's already feeling a heat on her cheeks. Lexa is watching everything in silence. Clarke ignores her roommate and looks straight at the TV when she realizes the cute character has very similar features to the ones gracing the green eyed brunette sitting beside her. She wonders if Lexa has observed that and her cheeks get even hotter.

"Let's just watch the movie" she finally says.

The movie plot gets darker and darker, they're halfway into the movie and as it progresses they get enraptured by its story and begin to relax. Clarke, however, isn't as relaxed as she could be for the tension in the movie leaves her completely on edge.

"Oh my god!" Clarke screams jumping back on the couch on a particular frightening scene, her hand instantly shoots outwards searching for something to brace on and falls on Lexa's thigh automatically grabbing a hold of it.

The brunette's eyes instantly bulge and she stiffens completely. She doesn't even dare to breathe.

Raven jumps up alive from her sleep and tries to stick to the movie, she had been dozing off since twenty minutes into the movie until the pressure of the wine on her eyelids eventually won her over. Meanwhile Clarke descends from her adrenaline rush and keeps focused on the movie that suddenly becomes more enthralling. Clarke, still stuck in the tension provoked by the movie, doesn't even realize her hand still has a grip on Lexa's thigh. It's only when her hands begin to get clammy from Lexa's burning skin against her palm that she acknowledges where her hand's been pressing this whole time. She thinks it's too late and it would be too weird now to just pull her hand back so she thinks about smoothly sliding it away. _Maybe I could pretend a sneeze. Or fake a cough. Except I can never convincingly fake a cough. Maybe I could get up to pick something up. Like what? Like water. Or maybe another glass of wine. Oh yes, I would love to have another glass of wine._ The blonde can still feel its buzz in her brain. She goes over every option she has and doesn't even realize when her fingers start to move ever so softly against Lexa's leg. Her fingertips receive a response for the skin pores there are peaking and pickling against her skin. The moment Clarke realizes what she's doing, her short fingernails are raking light trails on a clammy thigh. Clarke's about to just get up when Lexa's hand smoothly joins her own in a sort of dance, their fingers brushing and rolling around one another. Lexa even presses Clarke's hand against her own leg. Clarke's eyes get closed sometime in the middle of this heated finger dance. There is a kind of bubbling need pooling inside her. The room is suddenly really hot and she can't bring herself to remove her hand. She doesn't want to. She doesn't know how this started but their bodies are leaning closer and closer to each other. Their arms are touching now and they both are fighting against the urge of turning their heads around. To face each other. To search for an agreement. Even though this kind of touch is agreement enough.

A loud glass-breaking noise and a scream come from the movie and she wouldn't even notice it if it wasn't for Raven's jump back from sleep again. This is enough to scare away two very intimate hands.

"What happened?" Raven asks in confusion cleaning slobber off her face.

"I think I'm gonna go," Lexa says already standing up. "Thanks for everything, Clarke. And Raven. Good night."

Raven is still half sleep and mumbles something like "don't go, finish the movie" but Lexa is already by the door.

Clarke is helping Raven to get up from the couch and sending her away to her bedroom, "Go. You've been sleeping through the whole thing. You're sleepy. Just go."

Ravens mumbles something else and begrudgingly drags herself to her bed. When Clarke turns around to the door Lexa is already gone. She thinks about going to bed herself but something pushes her toward the door. She can't let another weird moment like that ruin a potential great... friendship. So she steps outside and knocks on Lexa's door. _I'm sorry. I don't know. It's not-_

The door opens and a very flustered Lexa is standing before her, Clarke hurriedly word vomits once more "Look, I'm sorry I didn't... I don't... I mean, it's... It's not... Can I come in for a second?"

"Why?" Lexa says without really thinking. Afraid she might have sounded a bit rude she clears her throat and tries again "I mean, I don't know if that's a good idea"

Clarke stands there searching her head for something to say, she stares deep into hard green eyes and thinks that the girl is right, it _is_ a bad idea, a really bad one so she just nods her head and agrees with the brunette "You're right, I'm sorry, I just.."

In her lack for words the blonde just shrugs and turns around walking back to her apartment.

"Hey, Clarke" Lexa calls out when the blonde's about to reach her door causing her to turn back around. Clarke looks puzzled as she notices the tiniest of smiles showing on Lexa's face. This tiny smile suddenly turns into a modest grin as the brunette opens her mouth once again to keep talking "Go out with me."

* * *

 **AN:** #1 The speech in italic the barman gives Clarke and finishes with "The thing that gives our every move its meaning is always totally unknown to us" is a quote from the book "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera.

#2 The movie they're watching is called "The Devil's Hand" if you haven't watched it yet and Alycia Debnam-Carey stars in it as the main character, hence the joke with Clarke finding her cute.

#3 Sorry it took longer than normal, I was out of town volunteering the whole weekend and couldn't get anything done.

#4 Let's follow each other on tumblr and go nuts over Clexa. I'm "butmaybeineedyou" over there :)

#5 Last but not least, thank you for reading/following/favoriting/commenting/existing :D See you guys on the next chapter!


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